There’s lots of issues on voters’ minds this fall as they fill out their ballots: the economy, foreign policy, and reproductive rights among them.

But where does the environment and climate action fall on that list of priorities? And what policies do people care about?

A University of Colorado study published in January indicates that fewer than 5% of voters in 2020 listed climate change as their single most important issue in the election, but that’s not the full story.

“We found that in 2020 in particular, how important you thought climate change was was a very strong predictor of who you voted for,” said lead researcher Matthew Burgess. “So, for example, something like a quarter of Republicans who thought climate change was very important voted for Joe Biden.”

Burgess is an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming. He said the number of people who care about climate change as a voting issue grew from 2016 to 2020.

“The estimates that we came up with were on the order of… 1.5% of voters that might swing with climate change,” he said.

With how close recent elections have been, that figure could be significant.

More importantly, Burgess said people want politicians to do something.

He said the data shows there’s opportunities for action that have bipartisan support. According to polling, as many as two thirds of Americans support initiatives like renewable energy, and prioritizing wind and solar over coal.

“Where do you build wind and solar?” he asked. “You build it in rural areas.”

These present opportunities for action on a local level. For example, Pitkin County approved permitting for a solar array that feeds Holy Cross Energy’s grid.

Peter Davidoff, an economist living in Carbondale, sees even more opportunities for climate action in the valley, through policies that allow for more solar developments. He said there’s lots of agricultural land that you can’t build on, but would lend themselves to solar farms.

“And we can be pumping stuff into the grid at probably a more efficient level than trying to put panels on every roof,” he said.

Kristi Wray, a library specialist living in Rifle, recognizes the importance of natural resources to Garfield County’s economy, including oil and gas. But, she wants more diversity in the county’s energy production.

“Because we have wind, we have sun, we have water, we have oil and we have gas,” she said. “Like, we can come up with a plan to more responsibly use all of those.”

Davidoff said moving away from fossil fuels requires a concerted effort from oil and gas companies and communities to see the economic benefit.

“We need programs to immediately take those workers and transition them into other occupations,” he said. “So there’s a motivation for them to let go of some of the work.”

But, Wray acknowledged that getting all of this done can be very difficult in a polarized political environment.

“And I think it’s going to require more ‘and’s’ instead of ‘or’s,’” she said.

Burgess said despite polarization, climate action can actually present opportunities for compromise and consensus, particularly when it comes to spending federal dollars for climate action, like the Inflation Reduction Act.

“If we don’t increase the rate at which we approve power lines and other kinds of permitting, then the IRA money is going to be wasted or it’s not going to get to where it needs to go fast enough,” he said. “And that’s actually an area where I think there’s a lot of opportunity for bipartisan cooperation.”

And, Burgess continued, underserved communities could benefit.

“There’s… an amazing potential for the energy transition to address some issues of rural alienation and inequality by bringing manufacturing jobs and other kinds of good jobs and industries to rural areas,” he said.

In communities like the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys, it’s not just livelihood and economy, but something tangible we see in our backyards.

And Kristi Wray said it’s what makes us unique — and vulnerable to a changing climate.

“Like, we can see it,” she said. “We know when the ski slopes have to open late or close early. We know when the river is not running enough for the people who do the rafts and stuff to make their money.”

She says politicians need to look at climate and economy as connected issues — and that the future of our community is on the line.