What the Georgia Runoff Elections Mean for the Environment
By: Sarah Woodams
Tags: Environment, Politics, Policy, Climate Change, Elections

As the runoff elections for Georgia’s regular Senate election and their special election come ever closer, it’s important to fully understand what’s at stake.

In addition to overall control of the Senate, pro-environmental legislation for both Georgia and the U.S. at large is dependent on the results of these elections.

When are the elections and who is running?

The runoff elections for both Senate seats are taking place on January 5, 2021. Early voting began on December 14, 2020.

The Republican Senator David Perdue is running for re-election against Democrat Jon Ossoff in a runoff after neither of them received 50% of the vote in the November 3, 2020 election.

In December of 2019, the Governor of Georgia appointed Republican Kelly Loeffler to the Senate to fill the vacancy of Georgia’s Republican Senator Johnny Isakson. This led to a special election on November 3, 2020 where neither Loeffler nor her main Democratic opponent Reverend Raphael Warnock won 50% of the vote.

Why should you care?

The outcome of these elections will determine which party controls the Senate. Currently, the Democrats control the House of Representatives, but without a majority in the Senate it will be difficult to pass legislation.

If Ossoff and Warnock win, the Senate will have 48 Democrats, 50 Republicans, and 2 Independents (Bernie Sanders and Angus King). Kamala Harris as Vice President can break any ties in Senate votes.

Also, Mitch McConnell will lose his position as Senate majority leader and will be replaced by a Democrat.

Any environment-related bills will need to pass through both the House and the Senate to become a law, although Biden can use executive orders to advance his climate agenda.

What’s bad about Perdue and Loeffler?

While it’s not related to the environment, I think it’s important to note that both David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler have been accused of using knowledge from a private briefing for senators in January 2020 about the threat of COVID-19 to influence their stock portfolios and profit off the pandemic.

Loeffler and her husband bought stock in a teleworking company and a company that produces protective suits for healthcare workers, and sold Exxon Mobil stock and avoided large losses.

Perdue bought stock in the same PPE company as Loeffler, as well as Pfizer stock, the pharmaceutical company that has produced one of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Perdue’s trades were reviewed by the SEC and the Justice Department but no charges were filed. Loeffler was investigated by the Justice Department and the Senate Ethics Committee but also wasn’t charged. Insider trading is often hard to prove, especially with lawmakers.

In addition to their suspicious good fortunes during the pandemic, neither Loeffler or Perdue have any pro-environment statements or policy plans.

Perdue was a vocal opponent of Obama’s Clean Power Plan and the Paris Climate Accords.

What are Ossoff and Warnock’s plans for the environment?

Jon Ossoff and Revered Raphael Warnock both have dedicated sections about their environmental plans on their websites.

Both of them support important actions such as rejoining the Paris Climate Accords, reversing the Trump Administrations environmental rollbacks (especially on clean air and water), and a transition to clean energy and lower carbon emissions.

Ossoff also plans to advocate for:

Rapidly phasing in a ban on single-use plastics

Treaties to protect oceans and fisheries

Protection for endangered species and habitats

Increasing fines for spills and contaminations

Implementing stricter controls on toxic chemicals

Warnock has a strong focus on environmental justice which is influenced by his Christian faith. He has emphasized climate justice throughout his time at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and has helped organized and lead a public interfaith mass meeting on climate change with former Vice President Al Gore (a passionate environmentalist) and Reverend William Barber II.

He is dedicated to improving the lives of those who have been affected by environmental racism, most often black and brown households. Warnock wants to create new jobs during our transition to a clean and green economy, especially for those who have been most hurt by climate change.

Warnock also mentions the problems Georgia is facing in the forms of flooding and extreme weather. He promises to advocate for green infrastructure and structural reinforcement to protect Georgia’s coastline from rising sea-levels.

If you’re interested in learning more about Biden’s environmental plans that they would support as senators, check out my article.

How can you help?

Vote: Not to state the obvious, but if you live in Georgia and are eligible to do so- go vote! Every vote matters, especially in elections as close as these ones. If you know anyone who lives in Georgia, try checking in on them and ask about their voting plan.

Volunteer: Both Ossoff and Warnock have volunteering options such as phone banking on their websites. Stacey Abrams’s voting rights organization Fair Fight also offers phone and text banks to mobilize voters.

Donate: You can donate to Ossoff and Warnock’s campaigns directly through their website or make a split donation between their campaigns through Fair Fight.