Your Vote Changed The Forecast: A Message from POW Founder Jeremy Jones

Photo by Creative Alliance member Ming T. Poon

Happy Powder Day. Now let’s make it last.

Tuesday night renewed my faith in democracy, in the American experiment and in the fabric of this country. Millions of Americans broke from their political tribe and declared that the path we’re on is no longer our path.

Anyone who chases snow knows conditions can change overnight. They just did.

Voters sent a clear message: you can’t put corporate interests ahead of people and expect to keep your job. I’ve been saying that for twenty years. Yesterday, voters said it for me.

Thank you. You voted. You volunteered. You texted the friend who didn’t think their vote mattered. You brought your love of mountains, rivers and trails to the ballot box. Take a minute to feel that.

And to everyone who voted differently than I did: the air, the water and the snow are yours too. There’s room on this skin track for all of us.

For the outdoors, this is huge. A new Congress can finally put real checks on the rollback of climate protections, clean energy and public lands. It can block more damage, demand accountability, defend the funding that keeps our air and water clean, and reject nominees who’d put polluters ahead of public health.

But anyone who’s spent time in the mountains knows a good weather window doesn’t mean you’ve summited. It means you’ve got a shot.

So let’s be honest about the climb. The administration hasn’t changed. The damage already done will take years to repair. And this new majority will need to be pushed, by all of us, to make the right calls on climate, energy and public lands. Politicians respond to the people who keep showing up.

POW is ready. When the new Congress is sworn in, we’ll be rallying support for the Environmental Health Restoration Act, our bill to restore the EPA’s ability to protect clean air, clean water and a healthy climate. A new Congress gives us a real shot at new champions and the pressure to move it. We’ll be joining our coalition partners to protect public lands in the Arctic and Mountain West from sell-offs and fossil fuel extraction. And we’ll be advocating for more clean energy at state and local levels, where we’re already winning.

Today, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we get back to work making this last.

The window is open. Time to send it.

Peace, love, pow.

Jeremy Jones

Author: Jeremy Jones

Jeremy Jones is the founder and President of Protect Our Winters. Jeremy has been a professional snowboarder for 30 years and is widely regarded as one of the best big mountain snowboarders in the world. Ten times voted “Big Mountain Rider of the Year” by Snowboarder Magazine, he has starred in over twenty snowboard films […]