If your work or personal concerns center on the realms of conservation, sustainability, climate response or social justice, you are probably as accustomed as I am to compressing the five stages of grief into a remarkably short timeframe. This time it took me three days. A lot of ink and angst will be spent trying to puzzle out just exactly what message voters were sending regarding climate change and the environment in last week’s election—or if, in fact, any coherent message can be deciphered. I’m especially puzzled as to why so many young voters aged 18-29—a cohort that has vocally demonstrated that they comprehend and worry about the dire impacts climate change will have on their future economic security and quality of life—opted to vote against their climate interests or stayed home altogether. 

Reflecting on “what went wrong” is an essential exercise, but as we regroup and revise our strategies, I need to cut to the chase: Where do we go from here? And what can we learn from some local and regional developments that carried the day on November 5 and continue to thrive? 

Item 1: Seven champions of climate action were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, including candidates from states that went for climate denial at the top of the ticket. As noted by Inside Climate News, they bring to Congress a depth of climate knowledge and policy experience gained as teachers, state legislators and practical activists. As I am writing this, there are two additional congressional races that are too close to call, which could increase the ranks of legislators who will make climate a priority.

Item 2: Around the country, voters also supported and defended important environmental and climate initiatives. For example, California residents approved a $10 billion bond measure to fund the state’s climate resiliency goals through initiatives focused on safe drinking water, clean air, wildfire prevention, protection of natural lands and wildlife, renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture and resilience to floods, droughts and heat emergencies. At least 40 percent of the investment must go to projects that benefit vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. And in Hawaii, voters in Honolulu approved a municipal ballot measure that will create a climate resiliency fund drawn from property tax revenue to address long-term climate-related challenges. 

Louisiana residents voted overwhelmingly to approve a constitutional amendment that strengthens the state’s commitment to restoring coastal areas devastated by decades of oil and gas production. With two major offshore wind projects in development, the amendment directs that any state revenue derived from renewable energy production leases in the Gulf of Mexico must be dedicated to the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund, which already receives revenues the state derives from offshore oil and gas leases in Louisiana’s waters. 

In Washington, voters defeated a ballot initiative that would have repealed the state’s signature climate legislation, thwarted the state’s “cap and trade” strategies enacted to reduce carbon emissions by 95 percent by 2050, and defunded programs focused on conservation, renewable energy and clean air. 

Voters in South Dakota successfully overrode a deceptively-worded state law passed earlier this year that would have eased environmental restrictions and accelerated approvals for carbon dioxide pipelines. Arguing that Referred Law 21, which proponents dubbed the “Landowner Bill of Rights,” was in fact a giveaway to the pipeline industry at the expense of landowners’ rights, opponents were able to collect the 31,000 signatures needed to secure a ballot measure. 

All of this is not meant to sugar-coat the gut punch the presidential race delivered to climate action at the federal level. But it does demonstrate that issues addressed locally and regionally, where voters are able to perceive a direct link to fair dealing, the cost of living and their health and well-being, can find success. The Environment America Research and Policy Center maintains a database of initiatives and progress reports for each state-level success since 2014 in key categories like wind and solar development, battery storage capacity, electric vehicle adoption and energy savings achieved through improved energy efficiency.  Visitors to the Renewables on the Rise dashboard can see where their states are doing well and which aspects of the energy transition need more of our attention and advocacy. 

In the Upper Delaware, on both sides of the river, we are fortunate to have numerous grassroots organizations engaged in this work and local governments that are increasingly receptive. Now would be a good time to show our support and to rededicate our energies, as we have done many times before.