Photo courtesy of Tech. Sgt. Zoe Russell via Wikimedia Commons
Climate action has become especially contentious after Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, which battered Florida and other nearby states.
By Tara Monastesse ’25
Editor-in-Chief
While climate change has always been a prominent election issue, a series of devastating hurricanes in the southern United States this past month may place it at the forefront of some voters’ minds as they head to the polls this November. Climate action has become especially contentious in the wake of hurricanes Helene and Milton, which battered Florida and other nearby states between late September and early October. The Miller Worley Center for the Environment, Mount Holyoke College’s center for environmental leadership, has urged community members to address climate change by casting a ballot in the Nov. 5 general election.
An Oct. 10 statement posted by the Miller Worley Center for the Environment on their official Instagram page, @sustainablemhc, expressed solidarity with members of the College community who had been affected by the recent hurricanes. The statement concluded by encouraging those concerned to make their voices heard with a vote, as “our votes will have the greatest impact on the future of our climate, more so than any individual action can have.”
“It felt important to acknowledge that there are probably people on our campus that have been impacted by [the hurricanes],” Olivia Aguilar, director of the Miller Worley Center for the Environment and author of the statement, said in an interview with Mount Holyoke News. “And then I would say, too, to also recognize in an election year that these are the things that are vital to be thinking about when we go to the polls.”
“Essentially the reason we’re talking about this election being so important is to hold on [to] some hope that things do not have to be as bad as scientists have said they could be,” Aguilar said. “There is a sort of tipping point in terms of the amount of warming that this planet can see without really going into continual disaster after disaster after disaster, and that tipping point is what we are exceedingly close to, if not almost beyond. And so people have suggested that the policies that we enact in the next four years really are going to be crucial to make sure that we don’t get so far beyond this tipping point that … our way of life will be severely impacted.”
Students and faculty within the Pioneer Valley area have also described how the recent hurricanes have impacted friends and family in their southern hometowns. Jules Camargo ’25, an Orlando resident, said in an email to MHN that their family home sustained some mild storm damage during Hurricane Milton.
“Every year, we get at least one hurricane passing through central Florida,” Camargo said. “I feel as though they’ve been getting increasingly stronger with the climate crisis kicking into full gear.”
When discussing how their experiences with hurricanes in Florida have informed their political perspective, Camargo described how climate change has resulted in inequity regarding which residents are most affected by storm damage.
“I have always seen the climate as a political issue, and an intersectional one at that when considering who is able to recover from natural disaster damages. The areas with poorer and outdated infrastructure are, of course, more likely to face higher levels of economic devastation during these times,” Camargo said. “I think it’s important to reflect on how political forces show up in times of crisis as their inaction or action can be reflective of broader attitudes towards social welfare that [affect] all constituents.”
Brianne LaBare, an Amherst College senior who lives in a small town just outside of Orlando, expressed a similar concern when it comes to the impact that hurricanes can have on low-income communities. She stated that she is more concerned with the material struggles of disadvantaged communities in the aftermath of severe storms than with climate change as a larger issue.
“While I believe climate change is an important issue, I’ve noticed that the conversations about it often overshadow the very real, immediate challenges people in my community face,” LaBare said. “The focus on climate change sometimes takes away from addressing the infrastructure issues and lack of support for people living in underserved areas. For me, these inequities are just as critical when thinking about voting and political change.”
Mary Allison “MAK” Kane, the assistant director of the Miller Worley Center for the Environment, is a fifth-generation Floridian who grew up in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Kane, who also lived for a time in Boone, North Carolina before relocating to live closer to the College, said that she has loved ones in both states who regularly suffer the damage caused by hurricanes.
“Because I’m in this line of work, I’m obviously very familiar with what is happening with our climate and in the world around us,” Kane said. “I feel like the fact that it has become a political issue is upsetting. This is a survival issue for us. It is more a survival issue for some groups than others.”
Kane emphasized that while she believes voting is an important step to take in confronting climate change with specific government policies, she also stressed that individuals must focus on building community rather than allowing climate change to become a strictly partisan issue.
“Where I'm standing now, I have the power to have these kinds of conversations, and engage with people and find a way that we might share experience, even though I [may] have a different political affiliation,” Kane said.
According to Aguilar, many on-the-ground hurricane efforts in the aftermath of Helene and Milton are currently overwhelmed by an influx of support and donations. The Miller Worley Center for the Environment plans to wait until the situation stabilizes so the Center can best understand how to provide support to the affected communities, which are located far away from the College’s campus.
In the meantime, the Center will be conducting a social media campaign to emphasize the importance of political engagement and climate action.
Sofia Ramon ’27 contributed fact-checking.