How much do I really matter in a democracy?

Let’s step back and digest this for a moment. 2009 has come and gone and one year into a “new” Washington, we are still facing a U.S. Chamber of Commerce that this past year contributed close to $100 million dollars lobbying against climate legislation. These dollars – which came from a sometimes unaware corporate membership – contributed to the stalling of any momentum the legislation was gaining prior to Copenhagen. Those dollar counteract the concerns of many Americans who believe such policy is necessary to change our energy and environmental future. But everyday Americans simply don’t have the kind of money of the Chamber or some of its members have to effectively “sponsor” senators.

Yes, we have voices. Yes, we have votes. But with the Supreme Court’s decision, our democracy is showing its preference for favoring corporate dollars which more often than not greatly outweigh our influence on the political process.

Still, even though the decision threatens our direct role in our democracy, the power we have as individuals is incredible. Too often we fail to realize the real power that we can have over the companies that now stand to wield such an excess of influence on our government. So in a kind of roundabout way, we can still engage in our democracy by making it clear to big corporations that big global issues – climate change and climate justice, access to clean drinking water, and poverty and disaster relief, to name a few – truly matter to us.

Every time we shop, we’re voting. Every time we eat, we vote. Every time we watch TV, we vote. The list goes on and on. So why not vote for our future? Corporations know where you shop, they know what you eat, and they know what you watch. Their business revolves around what consumers want or they fail. If we are truly committed to a more sustainable world, we should support companies that are making efforts to reduce their impact on the environment, supporting strong public policy on climate change, and engaging with us openly on their efforts to be good corporate citizens. It actually becomes a quite simple equation. If those companies know we care about the environment and climate change and demonstrate our willingness to reward them for their meaningful action, those companies will naturally become the most outspoken forces for aggressive climate action in their interactions with our government. In short, our money talks and will motivate deep-pocketed corporations to put their money to use for good.

This is all about making lemonade out of the Supreme Court’s ruling. Let’s make it work to the advantage of us, the consumers of the products and services marketed by these “corporate persons.” Let’s put increasing pressure on the world’s most well-known companies – many of them some of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases – to put their money towards the issues that matter to us.