Mother Jones illustration; Photos courtesy of Antonia Juhasz

Donald Trump has an enemies list. The Sierra Club has an allies list—some 259,000 Pennsylvanians who could decide the election.

They have demonstrated concern for the climate crisis, the clean energy transition, and the environment—but they are young, or newly registered, or do not regularly vote. “These voters can be critical,” says Sarah Burton, the Sierra Club’s national political director. “But they often need extra pushes to get out and actually vote.”

So the Sierra Club is enlisting a vast cadre of volunteers to turn them out. People are gathering in dining rooms across the state and in zoom calls nation-wide to write postcards and make phone calls. As of Thursday, they’d contacted about 100,000 people on the club’s list.

“The only thing that defeats Trump and MAGA Republicans is collective action, and in my mind, specifically collective action on climate. There is such a potential there. I think it’s really exciting,” Burton says.

“If Trump wins, he’s made it clear he will do the bidding of fossil fuel corporations and billionaires.”

The Sierra Club is far from alone. Across the state, I met organizers from a wide range of green groups tapping into environmental concerns to get people to the polls. In a 2023 poll by The Nature Conservancy-PA, a whopping 86 percent of Pennsylvania union households say addressing climate change is a priority. Even the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) finds that their members are eager to hear how Harris and Walz will secure well-paid union jobs while building the........

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