Voters Demanded Change – on the Environment, and Democracy

On Tuesday, Americans voted for a change in direction – including on the environment.

Data centers were one major issue on the ballot. On Tuesday, data center bans or restrictions passed in at least 38 jurisdictions and counting across the country. In the states where the buildout is happening fastest, including Georgia, Ohio, and Texas, governors’ races turned on voter recognition of the need for stronger guardrails and robust community protections.

With rising power demand for data centers and rising energy costs, this election was also about the future of energy. Voters angry about growing energy bills focused attention on races for seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission, the body that regulates utilities in that state. Similar dynamics were seen in races for two seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission, another utility regulator, and one seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry.

These are small agencies with tremendous power. With these seats, there is an opportunity to usher in clean energy for people who are struggling with soaring energy costs. These were the opposite of sleepy races: Voters are understanding the connection between data centers, utility rates, and regulatory bodies.

And, in the midst of a rush to drill more oil and gas and entrench our fossil fuel dependence, voters rejected a ballot measure to establish a constitutional “right to gas” in Colorado, a major oil-and-gas-producing state. The oil and gas industry presented voters with a false choice between prosperity and policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Voters know better.

Among the most important debates in the country is how to build the infrastructure we need faster without running over people and wrecking the things we can’t afford to lose. For example, clean water and clean air. This “abundance” debate has its origins in the California housing crisis, and it has come to stand for the proposition that deregulation is the answer to our country’s problems. As data centers show what speed without guardrails looks like, the debate came full circle in California, with voters rejecting Prop 45, a sloppy effort to kill environmental review in the permitting process for even the most consequential projects.

This election is a thrilling reminder and a profound challenge: We can move forward together in this country if we are willing to throw in together, believe in our ambition for real change, and act on it.

Over the last two years, too many people have underestimated American voters and their ability to care about all the things that matter at once. This election was about the cost of living and an economy that must work infinitely better for everyone. It was also about our health, our health care, and the health of the communities where we live and work. It was about justice and the rights that Americans are not going to give up, no matter how much money is spent and how much power is abused to create division and drive despair.

People across this country did the real work to organize and vote. A whole bunch of courageous, good people stepped up to lead this work. The hope that millions of Americans felt on election night is a call to the most ambitious action. Let’s get to work!