One thing that I found very interesting from the film “Before The Flood,” as we watched in class, was the fact that climate change is a very well-discussed topic in other countries besides our own. The film showed clips of protesters in China urging their leaders to take action upon climate change, which is vastly different from the attitude of many Americans, including our President-elect Donald Trump.
In the US 2016 election, climate change definitely took the back burner on topics, and once Bernie Sanders lost the DNC nomination, who I believe had the most constructive climate change plan, it almost vanished from the presidential candidates topics of discussion, for the most part. Yale’s Project “Six Americas” published their findings about climate change and the 2016 election. As we talked about in class, the majority of voters surveyed reported that climate change had no effect on their preference in presidential candidate.
From data collected from 2008-2016, the Six Americas’ percentages have stayed nearly constant throughout the years. These numbers show how important it is to create awareness among the general public about climate change. Those of us who know the facts about climate change already are on board, and it’s up to us to try and educate and inform those who aren’t sure about climate change. As mentioned in “Before The Flood,” change will be more likely to happen if the public majority urges action.
Images and Facts From:
Amanda Hecker
Communicating Health, Science and the Environment 
I am extremely concerned about the lack of discussion about climate change during this election. Although I am not as engaged as I feel I shoul be, I recognize that it is a serious issue that our country needs to address; especially when we consider that amount in which we contribute to our planet’s demolition. I have begun to make a conscious effort to educate vulnerable populations about what we can do to spark change in our communities.
Moriah Israel
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