This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.
Climate change did not take center stage during this week’s presidential election; it did not even seem to be in the wings or in the theater. Instead, the U.S. elected a candidate who has a history of rolling back environmental protections and has spoken openly about his desire to “drill, baby, drill” for more fossil fuels.
But a handful of ballot initiatives showed that voters are, in many places, interested in shoring up climate resilience and conservation. “There’s no sugar-coating” the results of the presidential election or Republicans’ takeover of the Senate, said Justin Balik, senior state program director for the advocacy group Evergreen Action. But “when push comes to shove, there are voters across the country that care about protecting the environment and cleaning up pollution, especially when it’s articulated in concrete, specific terms.”
In Minnesota, for example, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to continue allocating at least 40 percent of state lottery revenue to an environment and natural resources trust fund until 2050. Since its creation in 1988, the fund has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into more than 1,700 projects statewide — including local parks, maintenance of the Superior Hiking Trail along Lake Superior, and a wolf conservation center in Ely, Minnesota.
The fund has supported “everything from the data collection that we all use in our work, to direct, on-the-ground projects, plus a lot of things in the clean energy space,” said Kris Larson, CEO of the nonprofit Minnesota Land Trust. He specifically mentioned its contribution to research at the University of Minnesota and affiliated institutions on how climate change is affecting lake water quality and bird and plant populations.
The amendment also sets up a new community grant program supporting environmental education and “helping adversely impacted communities respond to environmental........