The Latino community is the youngest demographic in the country with an average age of 30 years old. It’s also the largest ethnic and racial minority in the United States. Latinos have enormous political power that is often underestimated.
Every election year, presidential candidates from both parties brush up on their Spanish and talk immigration to the Latino community in an effort to win their support. However, the typical ways to reach out to Latino voters used for decades are seeming to get old.
A recent Axios poll conducted in 2020 said that top concerns for Latinos are health care, crime and climate change. The most important thing about this poll is that all those issues were ranked higher than immigration. Candidates believe that Latinos are monolithic when, in reality, Latinos are a very diverse group with different belief systems, cultures and political ideologies.
That being said, I would like to speak directly to the Latino community. While immigration and education have been unifying issues, I think there’s another issue that we can all coalesce around: climate change. Even though from state to state, Latinos have other priorities, Latinos across the board should care about sensible climate policy.
Polls continue to show that Latinos accept climate change as a reality and support government action to mitigate the effects of a changing climate. Between the Green New Deal and trillions of dollars of proposed spending, there seems to be no other options available. However, there does exist a climate solution that is supported by both parties, decreases the size of government, will put more money in your pocket and will cut carbon emissions in half by 2030. It’s called carbon pricing.
Carbon pricing places a fee on fossil fuels at the source of extraction, which would send a powerful market signal throughout the economy, spurring rapid decarbonization and incentivize the development of low-carbon technologies. Paired with a monthly dividend, all revenue generated would be given back to the American people as they see fit.
Carbon pricing has net benefits for everyone, especially the Latino community. The median income in 2019 for Latinos was $56,000 a year. Carbon pricing will have a positive impact on the Latino community because the revenue collected by placing a price on carbon will specifically help middle-income households.
In Utah alone, gas is at almost $4 a gallon. In Hispanic majority states like Texas, Florida and California, gas prices are becoming increasingly expensive. The money received will help pay for increases in energy prices that are bound to happen.
To truly end the threat of climate change, we need the cooperation of the international community. China and India are some of the largest carbon emitters in the world. If Congress passes carbon pricing legislation, the U.S. would implement a border adjustment. A border adjustment would work like this: For countries that trade with the U.S. and don’t have a carbon pricing equivalent, they would be taxed, because their carbon emittance would be greater. This would push other countries to adopt a carbon pricing plan. It would also protect manufacturers and keep us competitive in the global economy. Latinos happen to be overrepresented in low-wage industries such as manufacturing. A border adjustment will protect Latino workers and keep their wages high.
In the 2020 election, we learned that Latinos are much more in the political center than in the political extremes. In Texas and Florida where energy is a top issue, some Latinos decided to vote for Republicans because they were turned off by progressive environmental policies. Carbon pricing is a practical and a real alternative to progressive environmental policies.
It’s time we protect the environment but in a sensible way. With the help of carbon pricing, alternative energy looks like a reality, but we can’t get rid of entire industries overnight. Carbon pricing not only places us on a path to live in a healthier environment but in the long term will create millions of jobs, benefiting Latinos who work in the energy sector.
The changing climate is becoming important in the Republican Party. Rep. John Curtis of Utah just created the Conservative Climate Caucus and Utah Republicans and Latino Republicans are members of the caucus. The next step is for you to reach out to your lawmakers and talk to them about climate and the importance of carbon pricing. Sometimes I’ve felt my voice is not loud enough to create change and maybe you have too. But let me reiterate how important and needed you are, we all are, in the fight to live in a healthier environment.
Hunter Thomas
Hunter A. Thomas, Provo, is a Mexican-American and is the Conservative Outreach Fellow for Citizens’ Climate Lobby.