What about all the animals that lived in trees? Their habitats were ruined by wildfires. What about those adorable penguins that playfully slid on their stomach on the ice? The glaciers are growing smaller and smaller. Our environment, the natural world around us, is slowly starting to give away to climate change, and the future of our planet will lie in the hands of the results of this Election Day. 

As Election Day approached, the question “Biden or Trump?” seemed to become of greater and greater dispute, both politically and morally. Especially during times like these, it is impossible to ignore all that has happened, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the many aspects of political strife we have seen of late. This election is where we will make our voices heard and known.

One of the biggest problems we face as a society is, inevitably, climate change. As carbon dioxide levels continue to exponentially increase in the atmosphere, fluctuations in our climate become more and more obvious. A couple years ago, we would start seeing snow from the end of November, all the way until March, but last year, it snowed probably around once or twice. 

And, even in places we don’t see it, climate change does significant harm to the environment. Every day, the health and safety of nature is being impacted by the increase in temperature and droughts, as well as the decrease of food production.

According to Senior Abby Weinstein, one of the co-heads of the EnAct club, the obvious choice would be Joe Biden. “Biden has found a way to make crucial aspects of the Green New Deal appealing to a wider demographic of Americans through his Build Back Better plan, which is designed to create jobs in the renewable energy sector. This plan promises carbon neutrality by 2030 and even carbon negativity by 2050,” Weinstein explained. 

Former Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged the issue of climate change, and has plans to solve it. President Trump has done absolutely nothing to help the environment, even denying the very existence of climate change and its negative impacts on our environment.

Abby continued, “There is an unspoken rule in this administration that for every ‘environmental’ regulation put into place, two standing ones must be revoked. To my knowledge, 42 have been removed thus far. Andrew Wheeler, the head of the EPA, is an obvious pawn of Trump and the fossil fuel industry. For example, he gutted an Obama rule preventing the dumping of coal powerplant residue, which was contaminating water sources and causing cardiovascular diseases. Trump censors ‘climate change’ and related terms on government websites, too. Trump has also repeatedly called the Paris Climate Accords harmful and dangerous (although it is the opposite) and, as you likely know, he is in the process of removing the US from this groundbreaking agreement. In my opinion, this says a lot about Trump’s character, especially in relation to this crisis; the Paris Agreement does not obligate participating countries to take action against climate change—it simply acknowledges that it exists and that it is important to keep it in mind when structuring policy. Trump is less than a ‘maybe’ on climate change. On November 4th, the day after the election, the US will be formally and permanently removed from the Paris Climate Agreement. If that doesn’t make you angry, you’re not paying attention.”

Climate change is an inevitable issue on our planet, and disregarding it is simply not going to do any good for us. Since the beginning of time, we as a society have developed due to our problem-solving capabilities, and now should be no different with climate change. Earth is starting to become more and more contaminated, and if no serious measures are going to be taken, the problem will only get worse. This upcoming election won’t only be a matter of political ideas, but about humanity as a whole.