I was saddened by the letter last week that included the zinger “everybody who goes to the pump and fills up their tank … is as guilty as any vice president of an oil company.” This extreme “vote with your dollars” rhetoric punishes those who can’t afford a hybrid, aren’t served by public transit, and aren’t lucky enough to live within safe biking distance of work.
Shaming the rural working class won’t solve our problems. Better to elect representatives who proactively regulate fossil fuels, incentivize clean energy, and enact campaign finance reform so that candidates who represent the people instead of the oil lobby have a fighting chance. Here’s a suggestion: Vote with your vote! And if you think your vote doesn’t matter, open your eyes. Half the U.S. Senate doesn’t believe in the problem we need to fix. (I’ll give you one guess which half it is.)