Chloe Maxmin saw a climate emergency. Like many 20-somethings, she saw climate change as something that demanded immediate action. What’s interesting is what she did next. 

Running for the Maine state Senate in a Republican district, Ms. Maxmin started going door to door, talking not just to supportive Democrats but also to supporters of President Donald Trump. And a remarkable thing happened. 

“I had all these preconceptions about Republicans, and all of that was completely broken down,” she tells The Nation. “Because when I took the time to listen to people, and really respect where they were coming from, I did find that I have way more in common with them than I thought that I did.”

The result? She beat the Republican minority leader and learned to talk about climate differently to get others on board. “The climate movement is pretty privileged and urban-centric, and that plays out in what policy looks like,” she adds. “So I wanted to start a new conversation in the statehouse about a different type of climate policy rooted in rural and working places, and really [homing] in on a just transition, especially for rural places.”

Maybe that kind of politics holds a lesson for all politics – and the climate debate, she says. “The power of local politics is you can have the kind of conversations that can humanize politics again.”