What's one thing you can do to make a Big Climate Impact?

You may have a whole long list of ways you've heard to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. Everything from eating less meat to adding solar panels to your house to getting an electric car. There are many things like that which you can do, but these kinds of individual actions will be just a drop in a very big bucket.

The biggest thing that you, as an American citizen, can do to address climate change right now is to support and vote for candidates who take the issue seriously and actively support legislation that puts us on a path to net zero emissions.

Act now: Build Back Better

In November/December 2021, you can express support for the most substantial climate legislation to date: Build Back Better. Read more about the act and how you can support it.

Individual action won't do the job

YouTube channel "Kurzgesagt — In a Nutshell" made a terrific video asking the question: Can YOU fix climate change?. Click below to watch, or read on if you just want a quick overview you can skim.

Addressing climate change requires big levers

In the 2000s, fossil fuel giant BP ran an ad campaign to get people thinking about their individual "carbon footprint". While individual people do contribute to climate change in their daily lives, the fact of the matter is that there's a giant web of emissions that an individual is almost powerless to correct. In the Kurzgesagt video (which is well worth the 15 minutes), they mention that an American who manages to have zero emissions for their entire life would only offset a single second of global greenhouse gas emissions.

But you do have one really large lever you can pull to deal with climate change: Your vote! Our political leaders at the federal, state, and local levels can create policies around electricity generation, help make it cheaper to buy electric cars, help fund development of technologies to help remove carbon from the air, and much more. They have the tools to open up economic opportunity and deal with climate change.

Adding solar panels to your house is a step toward clean energy, but any gains would be crushed if you vote for a candidate who votes against policies to address climate change.

Support candidates, vote in primaries

After you've taken the step of showing your support for the Build Back Better Act, there's a lot you can do to support candidates who will take the next steps against climate change. Find your state and read about the candidates who seek to do the work to fight climate change.

Big companies also have power over how we get our power

While the government has the greatest ability to change how Americans get their electricity, large companies use a lot of power and can push utilities to shift to renewables. One estimate puts the corporate sector at 20% of utility-scale renewable additions over the next decade.

So, if you happen to work for a large company, raising awareness within your organization and encouraging movement toward reducing emissions at the corporate level is another lever you have access to that can have far more impact than your individual purchase choices.