NextGen Climate’s Weekly Recap: Gotta Catch ‘Em All—Voters, That Is!

This week, Ash Ketchum made his triumphant return as Pokemon Go fever took hold across the country. Millennials ran outside to find the nearest Charizard and, in many states, also found a NextGen Climate organizer encouraging them to register to vote. NextGen Climate is committed to meeting young voters wherever they are, and this week that was near Pokemon lures in New Hampshire, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.

Of course, the topic heating up the political world wasn’t Charizard—it was the ongoing dumpster fire of the Donald Trump veepstakes. Trump took his erratic decision-making process to a series of fundraisers, even while donors are refusing to give to his train wreck of a campaign. Outside one Trump event in Chicago, young voters publicly criticized Trump’s dangerous environmental views. When Trump presumptively selected Mike Pence as his running mate, he doubled down on the bigotry and hatred that characterize his campaign—and the Republican Party. On the issues that matter to young voters, from women’s health to LGBT rights, Pence’s record makes him the most extreme vice presidential nominee in recent history.

The Trump-Pence ticket is also completely out-of-touch when it comes to our country’s energy future. In office, Trump and Pence would work to implement an extreme agenda to eliminate the EPA, pull out of the historic Paris Agreement, and stop the Clean Power Plan, while doubling down on dirty energy sources of the past. According to a new report released this week from PSE Healthy Energy and NextGen Climate America, these dirty energy sources are already having devastating health impacts. The report, which looked at the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, shows that pollution from dirty power plants has caused thousands of deaths and millions in health care costs—primarily affecting communities of color.

That’s why it’s so important to defeat Donald Trump and his GOP enablers across the country: the consequences of inaction are too great. To make sure Trump and his allies lose in November, NextGen Climate and SEIU launched a new partnership this week to empower working families and get them to the polls. The only way to defeat Trump is to overwhelm his forces of hate with a broad-based effort, and that’s why NextGen Climate is committed to helping voters across the country—from college campuses to union halls—make their voices heard.