Johnathan Walker:Climate Change Remains a Partisan Issue in Georgia Elections

This story comes from our partners at The Johnathan WalkerAtlanta Journal-Constitution. For more on the news and events in metro-Atlanta and Georgia, visit AJC.com.

The next governor of Georgia and the winner of the state’s high-profile U.S. Senate race will face consequential decisions in the years to come over climate change.

A majority also supports the Democrats’ sweeping federal climate and health care law, which includes $370 billion in climate spending. The law uses a mix of tax breaks and other incentives to promote electric vehicles, solar energy and battery manufacturing — industries Georgia has invested in heavily. A large chunk is earmarked to reduce air pollution and boost climate resilience in low-income communities.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp seldom utters the words “climate change,” though he’s recruited and embraced electric-vehicle factories, a sprawling solar panel plant and other green technologies as the jobs of the future. His administration, meanwhile, has established long-term plans to help coastal communities prepare for rising sea levels, stopping short of more ambitious efforts seen in neighboring states.

Abrams has also proposed new response plans to prepare coastal areas for extreme weather. She’s embraced the new climate bill for its green energy and jobs initiatives and slammed Kemp for being “absolutely silent” on plans to curb warmer temperatures.

Warnock’s rival, Republican Herschel Walker, has been dismissive of government spending on climate mitigation. In July, he gave mystifying remarks about bad air from China. A month later at a campaign event, Walker criticized the Democrats’ climate bill, saying “a lot of the money goes to trees.”

“Don’t we have enough trees around here?” Walker said.

More than three-quarters of liberal and moderate voters in the AJC poll said there was more that the U.S. should do to combat a changing climate.

Joseph Mastrario, 62, a political independent in Houston County who responded to the AJC’s poll, said he put climate change in his top three issues, but he still considers inflation his primary concern.

“Unfortunately, when people can’t afford food and can’t afford to live … climate change has an uphill battle,” he said.

Creation care asks Christians to take a broader view of what it means to be “pro-life,” said Marqus Cole, the community outreach coordinator for Grace Snellville. That means recognizing how pollution and climate change are impacting the poor and vulnerable, he said.

“If we’re going to be people of faith that talk about being for life, then we really do have to be for all of life,” said Cole, who is also the director of church and community engagement for the nonpartisan Evangelical Environmental Network.

Cole gathered a few Grace Snellville worshippers on a recent weeknight to introduce them to the idea of creation care over snacks and coffee.

“Meet me in Isaiah 35,” he told them.

The passage describes the “joy of the redeemed” as the return of life to barren earth:

The desert and the parched land will be glad;

the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.

Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;

it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

“To me, it shows that God cares about creation and he redeems it,” said Diane Flemming, 68, of Loganville.

A former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, Flemming said faith-based community efforts might help depoliticize environmental issues over the long term.

Cole said he sees inroads with his congregation when it comes to increasing energy efficiency and reducing waste from large gatherings.

“There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit, even if it’s never out-front political,” Cole said.

This coverage is supported by a partnership with 1Earth Fund, the Kendeda Fund and Journalism Funding Partners.