In an era marked by climate change and unprecedented environmental disasters, the topic of climate has been notably absent from this year’s presidential campaigns. Although the majority of Americans support some form of action, climate change is one of the most politically divisive issues in American politics and one of the least important issues to voters — only 21% of voters cite it as being a very important factor in their vote in a recent Gallup poll.
For the college’s Schumann Distinguished Scholar, author and climate activist Bill McKibben, however, this election is the most important of our time, and climate is at its center. McKibben has written countless articles and spoken at a vast number of events this election cycle, and his message is clear: Voters are poised to choose between two radically different outlooks for the planet. Vice President Kamala Harris calls for a continuation of President Biden’s renewable energy investments and efforts, and former President Donald Trump calls for a full-fledged return to an economy based on fossil fuels, which McKibben said could have devastating implications for our planet’s well-being.
McKibben has been crisscrossing the country — from Arizona to Pennsylvania — with Third Act, a group that he co-founded in 2021 that includes about 100,000 climate-concerned older Americans. Third Act recently established a Political Action Committee (PAC) called GrayPac, which allows them to campaign as a non-profit. The group has done advocacy and campaign work in several swing states, holding rallies, encouraging door-to-door work, sending postcards and phone banking.
Although some of these campaign efforts have been climate-based, McKibben said that depoliticizing climate as an issue goes beyond campaigning.
“I think [climate] will be depolarized once the political power of the fossil fuel industry is broken, and I think that will happen once we've built out more significant solar, wind, and battery resources,” he wrote.
Developing America’s renewable energy portfolio through big and small projects will break down the power of the fossil fuel industry and its political regime, according to McKibben. But doing so is a tricky cycle. In order to loosen the grip of fossil fuels, McKibben said we must continue to build renewable energy sources in the meantime — a seemingly impossible ask under a second Trump presidency, which experts say will halt the growth of renewables and draw attention farther away from the climate.
“Polarization will only end when the power of the fossil fuel industry is broken, mainly by a lot more solar farms like the one Midd just switched on,” he wrote to The Campus, referring to the college’s new solar field on South Street Extension.
If this election is as salient for climate and renewables as McKibben suggested, what is the role of academic institutions like Middlebury that profess their commitment to sustainability and renewable energy?
“I think the College should be pretty hands-off,” McKibben wrote. “Politics is a duty of citizenship, and students should be prepared to undertake it on their own, without help from professors and administrators.”
He added that Middlebury students still have power to take action on climate and the election in the final days of the race.
“It's not that hard to get involved,” he wrote. “We're happy to let anyone of any age join in at Third Act, or check out Vote Save America.”
Maggie Bryan '25 (she/her) is the Senior News Editor.
Maggie is a senior at Middlebury, majoring in Environmental Policy and French. She previously held roles as Senior Arts and Culture Editor, Arts and Culture Editor, and Staff. During her free time, she loves running, listening to live music, drinking coffee, and teaching spin classes. She is from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
