The heat is on in the desert and I am thriving. If it’s much cooler than 85 out I probably won’t take a dip in the river, so as not to disrupt my homeostasis. When I am alone writing in the terrarium I turn off the small AC unit and fan and embrace lizardom. I know this is not normal.
Cool air was a luxury lacking in my last trailer, a 1987 Road Ranger, just one year younger than me, parked in central Arizona. Temperatures there could climb into the 100-teens, which posed some occupational hazards. I spent very little time inside the hot metal furnace. My writing desk became a lawn chair inside of a kiddy pool. The experience ratcheted up my heat tolerance honed from growing up on the edge of the Mojave desert.
Last Sunday was the hottest day of the last 36,500,000. And it keeps getting hotter. What is happening to the climate is scary, and it’s harming a lot of people. This summer, 5 people have died hiking in Utah’s canyon country. Tourists have also succumbed to heat in the Grand Canyon and Death Valley, which has its own cult of people seeking to experience what 129 degrees feels like.1 While these deaths are from elective heat exposure, record temperatures in places like Phoenix and Las Vegas can be a crisis if the power goes out. Last year 465 people died in Maricopa County Arizona where temperatures hovered over 110 degrees for 31 consecutive days.
If these conditions are not affecting you now, your turn will come eventually. Smoke has billowed in and out of canyon country all summer. Through the haze, the sun beamed red, setting the tone for what summer is coming to mean in the Anthropocene. Last week my childhood home nearly burned to the ground in a wildfire.2 Just look at this current fire and smoke map for the West.
What I am trying to say is, the current climactic conditions are alarming, even for a sun worshipper like me. I am not here to get into the weeds about all of the environmental policies and personal changes that need to be enacted as we approach deadly tipping points with climate change. I am here to write about one thing we must do to make sure any of those options are still possible––VOTE in this November’s election.
I know many people on both sides of the left fence who are questioning casting a ballot. Not voting is still a form of voting. There is way too much to lose just because a candidate does not perfectly align with your views. News flash: I don’t think that will ever be possible. Dr. Len Necefer has been sharing some great material about this on his Instagram account. And one candidate has made it clear that your views and your vote may never matter again.
To better understand what is on the line environmentally, especially in the West, I recommend reading The Land Desk’s guest post by Michelle Nijhuis and Erin X. Wong that breaks down Project 2025’s extreme vision for the West. (It originally appeared in High Country News.)
VOTING for Kamala Harris this fall is not just about a candidate, it’s about democracy, women’s rights, and the environment.
It’s also about religious freedom, funding for education, border policy, the National Weather Service, and the freedom to be a childless cat lady––or in my case, a childless book lady.
This week, the republican mayor from Mesa, AZ, one of the most conservative areas of the country (and hottest), endorsed Harris with an Op-Ed in the Arizona Republic. I found the article particularly powerful, not only because a Republican is endorsing a Democratic candidate, but in his reflection on the positive outcomes President Biden’s tenure had on his community. It is a potent reminder of the way democracy was designed for both parties to enhance the well-being of the country. And that is what this election also stands to preserve.
It is my goal as a writer to engage with a broad spectrum of people––not just preach to the choir. Not long ago, a few decades past, caring for the environment was a bipartisan concern. Put far too simply, people were fed up with polluted air and water. This election is an opportunity for Americans to view voting for the President, and democracy, in that same light as well.
This post is not at all meant to be an in-depth analysis of the election. There is plenty of that on the internet 24-7. This is off the cuff and from my heart. I write in hopes this can inspire you to have conversations with your relatives, friends, and communities about these issues and voting for Harris. It is through real conversations, rather than performative posts and cute memes, that get the wheels turning in people’s heads and hearts. And sharing this is a piece of mine.
Thanks for being here.
In light 🧡,
Morgan
Ross Anderson makes magic out of the topic in “What 129 Degrees Feels Like” for The Atlantic.
I am currently reading: Playing with (Wild)Fire by Laura Pritchett is a work of climate fiction (cli-fi) that captures how fire affects the human psyche and life, and how destruction can lead to renewal.
And while we are on relevant books for this moment, I recommend pre-ordering Pam Houston’s forthcoming book, Without Exception: Reclaiming Abortion, Personhood, and Freedom also by Torrey House Press.