Global warming is inescapable, affecting everyone regardless of race and class. As one of the most important issues facing the globe, and the most important issue for me this election cycle, I was immediately drawn to Bernie Sanders early in his campaign. The Vermont senator recognized that we are in dire straits, and that bold, transformative action must be taken to change the course of climate change. Over the past year, I have been a huge Sanders supporter and remained skeptical of Hillary, and I still am. But I know that compared to an entire political party that not only doesn’t believe in climate change, but will remove important emission regulations and accelerate the current trajectory we are on, the choice is clear.
A lot of Sanders supporters, rather than getting behind Hillary, are going Green and I don’t blame them. The Green Party stands for almost everything I do, and while it is extremely tempting to vote for Jill Stein, I know that unfortunately she can’t win this November, only help Donald Trump. Yes we could send a message that we are ready to break apart this two-party system, and I am, but at what cost?
Jill talks a lot about “continuing the revolution,” but what everyone needs to remember is that while there is a time for action, more importantly there is a time for patience. This past year has been the time for action, and the results of it are clear. Sanders’s fingerprints are all over the DNC platform, and I know the platform wouldn’t be as progressive today, and actually be something I could get behind, without the action all of the Berners have taken.
But now is the time for patience. Jill Stein says Sanders was “trying to lead a revolution in a counter-revolutionary party,” and (rightfully) accused the DNC of corruption, and rigging the system, and taking away our voices. And while I feel slighted, I need to put these feelings aside because I know that this is bigger than me; now isn’t a time for action, for completely throwing away all of the gains Sanders and us have made this past year and voting third party, because that will only take away votes for Hillary, and if Donald Trump is elected he will stop our revolution dead in its tracks. And even worse, if Donald Trump gets into office, he could push climate change past a tipping point we may never be able to recover from, even in 4 years’ time. I need to be patient and know that some of these other issues can wait. I need to be patient and know that in 8 years’ time, after a lot more action on our part, there WILL be a Berniecrat on the Democratic ticket, and because of our revolution, all of our ideas will be incorporated in the next DNC platform.
But for now, please be patient these next few months. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day, accept our losses, but cheer for the gains we have made in this year’s DNC platform. Put aside your feelings of resentment for the DNC (which I still harbor as well) and vote for the greater good of our environment, vote for someone that actually has a chance of winning the election, vote for someone that is committed to the GREEN principles of stopping global warming. We all need to take a step back, and think about the big picture. To the Bernie-or-Bust movement, to independents, to unhappy Republicans, think about this: Are you willing to risk the irreversible, further destruction of our environment because you hate Hillary and the DNC so much? Are you willing to put someone in office that has emboldened people like Bill O’Reilly to defend slavery, or whose supporters tell black people to “go back to the fields where they belong” on the NYC subway? Sanders too knows that now is the time for patience and unity, and to elect Hillary Clinton, because these issues are more important than our feelings of resentment. So please share this message, vote for Hillary, and the day after she is elected, let’s take action again, hold her accountable to her commitments, and continue this revolution.
Nesvet is a graduate student earning his Ph.D. in chemistry at Stanford University.
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