This January, Georgia voters chose to turn away from climate denial and environmental harm, choosing instead to tackle the issues of climate change and environmental justice by electing two new senators in Georgia. While there were a bevy of issues that had a part in rejecting Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, a major issue was undoubtedly the former Senators’ stance on the environment and their performance in protecting Georgia, or lack thereof.
LCV’s newest scorecard release shows just how terrible both former Senators have been for Georgia’s environment. In the scorecard, Kelly Loeffler received a grade of 8% while David Perdue did just as bad, also scoring 8%. During his time in office, former Senator Perdue consistently chose to act against regulation that would have protected our environment, voting against measures that would have kept our lands, waters and air safe. Instead, he jeopardized the health of families across the country, letting big business run wild with little restraint to keep them in check. He even fell in line with the false claims that climate change was a hoax.
Kelly Loeffler was no better. While she was not as outspoken as her senior counterpart, her track record proved that she was no environmental champion. Her votes on issues like the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Barrett and COVID relief show that former Senator Loeffler valued her party loyalty over the needs and health of the people of Georgia and the rest of the country.
While the Republican party might see the failing scores as a badge of honor, it was clear that Georgians did not and chose to send new Senators to Washington who have pledged to tackle the problems of environmental justice head on. Both Senator Warnock and Ossoff have made public comments about the necessity of tackling climate issues head on. Senator Ossoff was clear about the need for funding new sources of clean, renewable energy, creating thousands of well paying jobs in the process. He also supported rejoining the Paris Agreement, overturning the catastrophic Trump environmental policies and much more.
Likewise, Senator Warnock has also talked about the need for tackling climate issues, focusing on environmental justice. As a pastor, he’s talked about the intersection of faith and politics in addressing climate issues, while also supporting clean energy, proper stewardship of our planet and rejoining the Paris Agreement. He’s invested in helping Georgia “Go Green (GAGreen!)” and create a booming economy around this promising new industry in the process.
It’s clear that Georgia’s voters have a new climate friendly future in mind, as shown in both the November General Election and the January Special Elections. While Senators Warnock and Ossoff are new, their promises are an exciting benchmark to look up to as they try to redeem Georgia from the dirty actions of Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.