“The rise of climate disasters seems like it could take us in some very different directions, whether it leads to a voting bloc advocating for climate apartheid and stoking conspiracy theories about the origins of fires, storms, etc., or to a bloc that is determined to build a more resilient future for all...or both. As more and more populated areas become more dangerous and homes become uninsurable, it's hard to predict how that might affect people who prize property rights and property values and who are highly invested in their homes as a retirement vehicle.”

“Americans are moving to more disaster-prone areas. I thought that this idea is counter to the ways we think about climate migration presently…after people lose their homes to a climate disaster, they tend to move where they have community support—often in areas that are just as risky for climate disasters.”

“I came to this discussion [on international environmental policy] through systems change. And so I noticed on the climate level, the fashion industry just wasn't making any inroads, like at all. And it seemed really obvious to me that they weren't really pulling the right public lever. They were pulling this environmental case over and over and over again, but they weren't really getting at the root, which is status, right? We can't say, curb your consumption when people still feel as though that consumption has very real, tangible benefit in their lives, right?”

“Right now, in the climate change world, while the poorest people are likely to feel the worst effects first, they are also the least able to make decisions that align with the climate change prevention movement. I'm not sure how we move forward about this, when so much of what the Left calls for from its supporters is decision-making that prioritizes the future over the present. How that works for people who can't afford to move, buy more expensive and longer-lasting clothes, purchase electric cars, etc., I don't know. It makes me wonder about the Left's self-understanding as defenders of the most vulnerable when so many of the most vulnerable do not seem to feel protected.”

The highly educated are more likely to select policies where the benefits will not be realized until the distant future, such as climate change amelioration.

“For most younger people I know, climate is the overwhelming issue of concern, whereas in all of the areas I work, it is rarely discussed or segmented as a subfield. This tension seems unsustainable to me. This generation will produce a major realignment representing some progressive social values, but also embracing a greater autonomous role for the state. We may see a separation of broadly left views from an investment in democracy.”