Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo
Actress and activist Jane Fonda, center, protests with others during the “Fire Drill Fridays” demonstrations, calling on Congress for action to address the climate crisis, November 29, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
I’ve been getting arrested with Jane Fonda over the last few months, doing my part to ring the alarm bell on the climate crisis. I spend most of the rest of my time with Working America, an AFL-CIO–backed national membership organization for working people without a union, reaching out to undecided working-class voters and talking with them about jobs and the economy. These are people who many assume are climate deniers.
So, am I working against myself?
No. My experience has shown me that while white working-class swing voters aren’t your typical climate protesters, they are increasingly concerned about climate. The evidence of catastrophic change is becoming part of their daily lives, and it’s changing how they think and, potentially, how they act.
A recent survey by Working America of 1,031 voters in Ohio found that, overall, voters ranked jobs and health care as their top issues. Climate change was third for those voters who intended to support a Democrat for president, and didn’t rank at all for those supporting Trump. Surprisingly, however, climate came in fourth for voters who were undecided, who constituted roughly one-third of the respondents.
Why is climate a come-from-behind issue for a group of Midwesterners who are largely white and working-class? Three reasons:
- The climate crisis is in their backyards. Just look at some battleground states: storms in North Carolina, fracking in Pennsylvania, undrinkable water in Michigan, punishing temperatures in Arizona. Working people are experiencing the effects of climate change in their daily lives.
- Identifying the real culprits makes it a more concrete issue. Working people are less likely these days to think of climate change being just like the weather and more likely to link it with the other crises in their lives, like health care and flat wages: caused by profit-obsessed corporations and the politicians who do their bidding. As people in working-class America increasingly focus on the wrongdoers—not just the wrongs—climate change becomes a knowable crisis with solutions.
- There is an appetite for strong policies. A majority of the undecided voters in the Working America survey supported a wealth tax, and nearly half supported a Green New Deal and Medicare for All. Women were especially supportive of progressive policies, outstripping men in support of a Green New Deal by nearly 10 points.
Keep in mind that jobs and health care are still at the top for most people. Solutions to the climate crisis have to include a just transition for the workers and communities affected, good jobs with union representation, and a seat at the table for workers and their unions.
So I’ll get arrested again on December 13, the Fire Drill Friday that Jane is devoting to jobs, communities, and a just transition, bringing working people and climate warriors together. “Turtles and Teamsters together forever!” we shouted in Seattle at the World Trade Organization demonstrations in 1999. Here’s hoping we get it right this time.
