Talking Climate at the Early Voting Line: Two Years After Helene, North Carolina Voters Still Await Long-Term Answers
An Oct. 23 election report by North Carolina public radio in partnership with the nonprofit environmental outlet Grist focused on early voters in the western North Carolina mountains. At lunchtime, the Haywood County Public Library was packed with voters from Canton and surrounding areas casting early ballots. Maggie Panther, a Democratic voter from Canton, said after voting that she still remembers politicians coming to pose for photos after Hurricane Helene but offering almost no long-term solutions, so climate change was on her mind as she voted. The report noted that two years after Helene, the storm's shadow still hangs over the midterm election: western North Carolina has in recent years endured Hurricane Fred in 2021, persistent drought and wildfires, and then Helene, and the repeated flooding has shaken even some habitual Republican voters. Republican voter Sandra Moody said floods that are supposed to happen once in 500 years keep recurring, making people ask what is going on. The report also noted that although many voters are thinking about the changing weather, climate is not always a formal topic in campaign debates. Early voting in North Carolina runs through Oct. 31, with Election Day on Nov. 3.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：阿什维尔市中心（资料图）。照片：Wikimedia Commons（CC BY-SA 3.0）。downtown Asheville (file photo). Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).
