Since launching its major voter mobilization push late last month, the national climate action group Sunrise Movement has contacted 344,437 young voters in key swing states—and organizers are hearing that young people are waiting to hear two announcements from Vice President Kamala Harris before they engage heavily in making sure the Democrat wins the presidential election.
Both voters and potential volunteers for the Harris campaign want the vice president to "deliver a strong climate plan and support an arms embargo" over Israel's war on Gaza, said the Sunrise Movement Monday.
"Young people are recognizing their power and owning it. People are fired up and getting engaged with the election, but there is a sizable number of young people who don't want to get out the vote for Kamala Harris until she backs an arms embargo and puts forward a real climate plan," said Noah Foley-Beining, an organizer with the group. "Kamala Harris is missing a huge opportunity to energize and turn out young voters in historic numbers."
The group emphasized that the "critical importance" of the 2024 election is not lost on the youngest voters, and the people organizers have spoken to via door-knocking, phone-banking, and texting campaigns are committed to participating in the election.
"We're seeing very high numbers of young people not only commit to voting but also commit to turning out voters in their community," said Yara Changyit-Levin, who has led phone banks for the national organization. "When we asked young voters in Wisconsin to get their friends and family members to cast a vote, 84% of them said yes to that commitment."
But when asked if they are willing to join volunteer efforts for Harris and her vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, many have been saying they don't want to volunteer "until she has a climate plan and supports and arms embargo."
Harris released an extensive list of policy priorities earlier this month, including a section on tackling the climate crisis with promises to build on the clean energy progress made by the Inflation Reduction Act.
But the debate between Harris and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump last week found her pledging to continue allowing fracking in Pennsylvania—despite polls that have shown majorities of Pennsylvania residents oppose the methane-heavy practice.
One report by the Civil Society Equity Review last year found wealthy countries must phase out all fossil fuel extraction by 2031 at the latest to ensure planetary heating doesn't rise above 1.5ºC.
Harris has told organizers with the Uncommitted National Movement that she is open to discussing an arms embargo on Israel, which has killed more than 41,000 people in Gaza—a third of whom have been children, according to officials in the enclave—since beginning its bombardment there nearly a year ago.
But her campaign has since stated it does not support cutting off the flow of U.S. weapons to Israel, which has received at least $12.5 billion in U.S. military aid since last October.
A poll published earlier this month by the Arab American Institute showed that if Harris were to support an arms embargo and a suspension of diplomatic support for Israel until there was a cease-fire in Gaza, her national support at the time would increase by five points.
The Sunrise Movement's dispatch from its canvassing and outreach campaign suggested young voters would also ramp up their support for Harris if an arms embargo were announced.
With plans to reach 1.5 million young voters, the group intends to launch digital ads in the coming weeks targeting GOP candidates and highlighting the stakes of the election for the climate emergency.
