I Pledge To Vote

I am so honored to be included in the Climate Listening Series sponsored by Clean Air Moms Action this election season!

A lot of people are fed up with the presidential race. Rightly so. I will leave it at that. But I strongly encourage you to vote anyway. Even if you skip the presidential race. The closer the elected official lives to you, the greater the influence their decisions will have on your day-to-day life.

I care more about our gubernatorial race here in North Carolina. Even if you are from Kalamazoo, I am sure that you have heard about our governor. Several times this year. But I am solely focused on his administration and their actions around coal ash. One word pops out in my mind – reckless. And depositions. Lots and lots of depositions. Plus with another two percent cut for our school funding, I say good riddance.

President Obama has nothing to do with if you still don’t have a new park or your library is falling apart. That falls under your town council and county commissioners. Some of these people have been in office for thirty years. Look beyond the letter behind their name. If you see them out at your local events, great! If they look like they are about to fall into a sleep coma in a public comment hearing, not so great.

Don’t assume that people follow party lines on their votes. In Stokes County, we had a representative who was the ONLY person to vote against her party in our favor.

I am from a family of small town attorneys. Don’t ignore the judicial races. Call your attorney and ask them who they plan to vote for. Honestly you want a judge your attorney likes. Not someone who makes life difficult for everyone in the court room.

So vote! I hope you registered, because today was the deadline in North Carolina, unless you have been impacted by Hurricane Matthew. These citizens were granted an extension.

Prayers to all of those enduring this tragic catastrophe. With reports of submerged coal ash ponds and cooling pond failures at Weatherspoon plant, we need to make sound decisions based on clean up and closure of all sites based on more than just “least cost” for Duke and the rate payers. We are in the midst of climate change. We can only assume that more rain and flooding is on the way. So let’s be prepared and do the right thing now instead of later.

I pledge to vote. I hope you do, too.