Opinion: Young voters want to see U.S. unity to fight climate change

Two college students from different parties say Congress must take bold action to mitigate the worst consequences.

“Polls consistently show that young people’s number one issue is climate change,” said young conservative Alexander Diaz in a video shown to the Republican presidential candidates during the first primary debate late August.

Yet when asked if they believe in human-induced climate change, only former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said climate change “is real.” Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy called the climate change agenda a “hoax,” which invoked boos from audience members.

Climate change wasn’t even mentioned at the second GOP debate on Sept. 27.

Refusing to acknowledge the science is a political mistake for the Republican Party. Climate change is no longer the partisan issue it was before: 74% of adults support U.S. participation in international efforts to mitigate global warming, and 80% of voters want Congress to reach a bipartisan solution.

We are two college students identifying with different political parties — yet we agree that Congress must take bold action to mitigate the worst consequences of climate change. Most young voters, regardless of political affiliation, feel the same.

Seventy-four percent of Americans aged 18-29 believe climate change should be addressed right now or in the next few years, according to a 2023 CBS news poll. Younger Republicans are also more likely to to be worried about the quality of the environment than older adults. Among Republicans ages 18-32, 69% said they were worried a great deal or a fair amount, while 46% of Republicans ages 55 or older said the same.

The future of our generation depends on our political leaders taking action, yet Congress continues to ignore us.

We’re already seeing the consequences of inaction. This summer, billions of people across North America, Europe and China suffered triple-digit temperatures, and July likely was the hottest month in 120,000 years. Heat waves of this intensity would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change, according to an analysis by the World Weather Attribution.

If we fail to act, climate change will cause 3.4 million deaths per year by 2100, according to data presented at the 2022 U.N. Convention on Climate Change. Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) would avoid 91% of deaths, while limiting warming to 1.5°C to 2°C avoids 50%.

To save countless lives and our planet, we must pass climate policy that breaks past partisan gridlock and can survive changing administrations.

Luckily, an effective bipartisan climate solution does exist: the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR 5744) was just re-introduced in the House of Representatives on Sept 27. In the last session of Congress, this legislation garnered backing from 95 cosponsors, more than any other carbon pricing bill in Congress.

This solution addresses concerns from both sides of the aisle and would reduce carbon pollution 50% by 2030.

The carbon fee and dividend plan involves a gradually rising fee on carbon emissions, which is completely revenue-neutral — meaning that the government keeps none of the money. All revenues from the fee are given directly back to Americans in the form of dividend checks, enabling families to offset any potential higher costs. This also means that the size of government does not increase, which is unprecedented for climate policy and a major selling point for conservatives. It’s so economically sound that it would produce $1 trillion per year in economic benefits for the U.S. economy.

Unlike any other climate plan, the Climate Leadership Council’s polling revealed that 75% of Republicans under 40 support the policy. Among Republicans at-large, there is 2-1 support (and 16-1 support from Democrats).

Climate change is not a hoax — despite what Ramaswamy might tell you. It’s time to abandon partisan politics and come together around a bipartisan solution.

Anna Novoselov, a Democrat, is a Saratoga native and fourth-year undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Environmental Science. Adrian Rafizadeh, a Republican, is a San Jose native and a second-year student at the University of Pennsylvania studying Finance and Management. They are volunteers with Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a nonprofit organization advancing bipartisan climate solutions.