Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Yale Climate Connections With the November election fast approaching, political campaigns across the country are targeting that most coveted of groups: “likely voters.” Once identified, most campaigns inundate them with mailers, phone calls, and advertisements. But the Environmental Voter Project flips conventional campaign wisdom. The nonprofit goes after those with voting records so dismal they’re written off by other campaigns. The Environmental Voter Project’s founder and director Nathaniel Stinnett believes there’s gold in those “unlikely voter” rolls, and his organization has been mining them since 2015 to great success. According to a report the group published last year, the Environmental Voter Project has transformed nearly 1.5 million unlikely voters into consistent voters who have one thing in common: “climate change and the environment” tops their list of concerns. Yale Climate Connection talked with Stinnett about his counterintuitive approach and the strategies anyone can use when talking with friends and family about the election. The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity. Yale Climate Connections: How does the Environmental Voter Project talk about climate change to people who already care about the issue but who have poor voting records? Nathaniel Stinnett: The best way to get climate-concerned voters to the polls is not to talk about climate change. First, you have to recognize that human beings are social animals. The best way to turn nonvoters into new voters is to use nuanced forms of social pressure that make it seem like everybody who cares about climate change is voting this year. We want people to think that as someone who cares about the climate crisis, being a voter is a necessary part of their identity. If we can do that, then they will definitely cast a ballot this... |