Author: Evan Fleischer / Source: Big Think
- The Midterm Elections are on November 6th. 1,200 candidates are running for 500 seats that will have an impact on every bit of your life.
- Scientists and Doctors are running for office. Innumerable environmental issues will be decided.
- Read up on the candidates, the issues, and then: vote.
The midterm elections are fast approaching. Early voting is underway and
And 2018 may be the year environmental voters begin to wake up. Only 21% of environmentalists voted in 2014, per The Environmental Voters Project, but the 2017 elections in Virginia saw an increase in two demographics particularly concerned about climate change. Pro-environment candidates did well in elections in Washington state and Florida.
And now there are more pro-environment candidates for voters to consider. There are 15 scientists running for office across the country, and there are a host of measures related to science on the ballot across the country as well. Here’s a short guide to both.
Above: The Mississippi River
1. Randy Wadkins
Randy Watkins is a biochemistry professor at the University of Mississippi in Oxford running in the 1st district against Trent Kelley. He’s spent 30 years developing anti-tumor drugs. He has an interest in repairing “the damage done to the Affordable Care Act” and making the bill better.
Voters looking at Wadkins will also have to consider how measures to repair bridges can get traction amongst local representatives, especially how — after a plan aiming at repairing bridges failed to pass the state legislature in the spring — more bridges closed.
2. Rob Davidson
Rob Davidson is an emergency room physician running in Michigan’s 2nd Congressional District, running because the current representative — in Davidson’s telling — does not believe healthcare is a right.
Voters taking a look at Davidson might also want to consider — if they aren’t already, and even though the 2nd District isn’t the 5th District — the state of the water system in the state and what can be done to alleviate the burden that has been placed upon the residents of Flint since 2014.
Above: Houston during Hurricane Harvey
3. Joseph Kopser
Joseph Kopser is a retired U.S. Army captain with an aerospace engineering degree and a career in clean-energy running to represent Texas’s 21st Congressional District. He’s a centrist Texas democrat, more or less — which you can see in his support for someone like the departing Texas Speaker of the House, Joe Straus — and he has claimed — that, per Ballotpedia — “Only two things will evolve my public positions: your input and verified scientific data.”
Voters looking at Kopser should also keep in mind flood preparedness, as evinced by Hurricane Harvey and recent flooding across Texas that led to a temporary boil water notice in Austin and which could spell the imminent failure of a dam in Arlington, Texas.
4. Mell Hall
Mel Hall is a minister-turned-data scientist who’s spent a career in the healthcare industry seeking to represent Indiana’s 2nd congressional district. Voters looking at Hall should also the matter of consider coal ash deposits contaminating the water in the state. The current iteration of the EPA has announced changes to coal ash regulations, including — as the Hoosier Environmental Council notes —”Allowing operators of coal ash ponds and landfills to write their own standards for groundwater protection” and “Making cleanup of contamination optional.”
5. Kim Schrier
Kim Schrier is a pediatrician running to represent Washington’s 8th congressional district. She wants to stabilize the health insurance markets, amongst other priorities. Voters looking at Schrier might also want to consider Initiative 1631, a carbon tax that’s expected to raise over $1 billion for the state in order to fund clean-energy programs and clean-energy development. It’s also worth noting that the current estimated price of what a carbon…
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