Vote-Climate is a Minnesota-based environmentalist organization that supports restructuring the energy sector to fight climate change and opposes the construction of new energy pipelines in Minnesota.

Policy Positions

Vote-Climate claims that absorption of carbon emissions by the earth’s oceans may lead to acidification and “collapse of the entire food chain.” ¹ Vote-Climate states that climate change will lead to “famines and [that] wars over water and food will all increase” ² and that limiting increases in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius is required to “maintain a climate similar to what humans have known in their entire 10,000 history,” while higher increases is equivalent to playing “Russian roulette” with our future. ³ Vote-Climate claims that sharply reducing non-weather dependent emissions in this decade is “necessary” to maintain our current climate conditions. ⁴

Vote-Climate supported President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, ⁵ a proposed rule that sought to regulate non-weather dependent emissions from power plants through forced reinvestments/re-engineering. The plan would have reduced 32% of non-weather dependent emissions from power plants in the United States by 2030. ⁶

In addition to expensive structural changes to power generation in the United States, Vote-Climate advocates for sustainable agriculture, ⁷ which results in more expensive food products, ⁸ electric vehicles, ⁹ and carbon tax plans ¹⁰ that would tax energy generation at a flat rate of $40 per ton of CO2 emissions. ¹¹

Activities

Vote-Climate recommends several environmentalist podcasts. ¹² Recommendations made by Vote-Climate include the Hot Take Podcast, ¹³ which contains episodes titled “It’s Not Climate Denial, It’s White Supremacy,” “The Case for Intersectional Climate Coverage,” and “Oilgarchy + the Real F*ckbois of Fossil Fuel.” ¹⁴

Vote-Climate has a news clipping service which provides quotations without further context, including: “We have seen in northern Minnesota, yes, some of the fastest-changing winter conditions in the country,” ¹⁵ and “[t]he news for moose is not good across the country’s northern tier and in some parts of Canada. A recent and rapid decline of moose populations in many states may be linked to climate change.” ¹⁶

Vote-Climate urges its readers to petition Congress, ¹⁷ participate in organizations that lobby for more weather-dependent sources of energy in Minnesota, such as Fresh Energy; ¹⁸ oppose energy pipelines, such as the MN350 campaign to prevent a pipeline in northern Minnesota; ¹⁹ and join environmentalist organizations such as  Climate Generation/Will Steger Foundation. ²⁰

Leadership

Jean Ross is the president of Vote-Climate. She studied art and design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and University of Minnesota. ²¹ On March 1, 2021, Ross signed on to an environmentalist petition in her capacity as president of Vote-Climate that urged President Joe Biden to halt the Minnesota Line 3 oil sands pipeline. ²²

1. “Why it’s Urgent.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/why-its-urgent/
2. “Why it’s Urgent.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/why-its-urgent/
3. “Why it’s Urgent.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/why-its-urgent/
4. “Why it’s Urgent.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/why-its-urgent/
5. “Solutions.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/solutions/
6. ^[1] Nelson, Colleen M and Harder, Amy. “Obama Announces Rule to Cut Carbon Emissions From Power Plants.” Wall Street Journal. August 3, 2015. Accessed May 5, 2022. https://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-announces-rule-to-cut-carbon-emissions-from-power-plants-1438627158?tesla=y
7. “Solutions.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/solutions/
8. Kiefer, Philip. “Why is it so expensive to eat sustainably?” Popular Science.  April 5, 2022. Accessed May 5, 2022. https://www.popsci.com/environment/sustainable-food-system/
9. “Solutions.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/solutions/
10. “Solutions.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/solutions/
11.  Mooney, Chris and Eilperin, Juliet. “Senior Republican statesmen propose replacing Obama’s climate policies with a carbon tax.” Washington Post. February 8, 2017. Accessed May 5, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/02/07/senior-republican-leaders-propose-replacing-obamas-climate-plans-with-a-carbon-tax/
12. “Recommended Podcasts.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/recommended-podcasts/
13. “Recommended Podcasts.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/recommended-podcasts/
14. “Latest.” Hot Take Pod. https://www.hottakepod.com/
15. “A Changing Minnesota.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/a-changing-minnesota/
16. “A Changing Minnesota.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/a-changing-minnesota/
17. “Take Action – Partners.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/partners/
18. “Take Action – Partners.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/partners/
19. “Take Action – Partners.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/partners/
20. “Take Action – Partners.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/partners/
21. “About Us-Contact Us.” Vote-Climate. https://vote-climate.org/about-us/
22. “President Biden, stand firm against the Line 3 pipeline and act now to halt its construction.” Wilderness Society. https://www.wilderness.org/articles/media-resources/environmental-groups-urge-biden-halt-line-3-pipeline