Voting rights vital to environment
On Friday, I marched 20 miles from Lilburn to Auburn as part of the NAACP America’s Journey for Justice. It’s an 864-mile march from Selma, Ala. to Washington, D.C., that began Aug. 1 and will enter the nation’s capital on Sept. 16.
The Sierra Club supports the effort because we know it takes everyone participating in our democracy to make sure our elected officials are making decisions in the best interest of us all. I was heartened by the support we received — honking, waving, fist-pumping — even as we slowed traffic on a busy Friday afternoon.
The march and its teach-ins, rallies and other events along the way aim to raise awareness of the injustices Americans still face in the 21st century, from environmental injustice to racial injustice. Marchers are calling on decision-makers for an improved national agenda that protects the right of every American to a fair criminal justice system, sustainable jobs with a living wage, equitable public education, and uncorrupted and unfettered access to the ballot box.
That last part — access to voting — is particularly significant, as August marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s signing into law of the Voting Rights Act. The act prohibits racial discrimination in voting.
In the last couple of years, that monumental law has come under attack. Some states have passed laws that prevent minority communities from voting.
When all Georgians have equal access to the ballot box, we have a much better chance at electing officials who care about cleaning up our state, protecting our families from pollution, and standing up and fighting against environmental threats like climate disruption. We must be able to elect people who truly value our health, jobs and communities, not just politicians who can buy elections with funds often coming from the big polluters that are also taking away our clean air and water.
The Georgia Sierra Club is focused on three priorities: clean energy, expanding transportation and protecting our national forests. Protecting our democracy is vital to achieve all of these.
If we are successful transitioning to a clean-energy economy based on solar, wind and energy efficiency, Georgians will spend a lot less of every paycheck on their power bills, and we will exponentially grow the state’s jobs in the clean-energy sector — jobs that already number 20,000, according to Southface’s Clean Energy Census report. If we are successful at expanding our transit network in metro Atlanta, more people will have more options and access to jobs, doctors, schools and shopping. And if we successfully protect our national forests, Georgians will be sure they have a place to recharge.
If any of our voices are silenced and our access to voting is interrupted, we don’t stand a chance to protect the environment for all Georgians.
Unfortunately in Georgia, access to the ballot box is not as easy and universal as it should be. In 2011, the state Legislature cut early voting days from 45 to 21 and eliminated voting the weekend before the election, preventing participation by voters who can’t easily access a polling location on Election Day. In 2014, nearly 40,000 new voters mysteriously vanished from the rolls and turnout was only 34 percent, down six points from 2010.
The Sierra Club will continue to support the NAACP this summer and beyond in its journey for justice, and we will act to protect and expand access to the ballot box and for a fair and equitable society for everyone. As Sierra Club founder John Muir said, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.”
Colleen Kiernan is the Sierra Club’s Georgia chapter director.
