by Emily Martin
Nina Larson, a 21-year-old music student at American University, decided to go vegan 10 months ago after researching the animal agriculture industry’s negative impact on the environment. She had started fostering cats a few months earlier.
Larson is a self-proclaimed animal lover, but she cited morality issues and prioritizing health as other reasons for her lifestyle change. She applies her sense of importance on morality in other
aspects of her life, including politics. She believes the most important issue facing the world is climate change and that it is overlooked at our own risk.
“Climate change is real, it is a real issue, and we are not handling it properly,” Larson said. “And within the next 20 or 30 years, we are going to have deserted oceans, who the f–k knows about the weather and we’re not going to be able to raise our children in an environment that is safe basically due to pollution and all that.”
Larson also criticized President Donald Trump’s administration and how it has dealt with climate change, including the decision to pull out of the Obama era Paris Agreement. She said she will not vote for candidates that support his actions on climate change, among other things.
“If you can support Donald Trump and everything he stands for – racism, dishonesty, misogyny – if you stand for that, no matter what your other views are, I cannot support you as a candidate,” Larson said. “When it comes to supporting Donald Trump, that is not a party line thing, that is a personal morality issue.”
Despite her strong views on Trump and Trump supporters on the ticket, Larson is confident about her incumbent Sen. Chris Murphy from her home state of Connecticut. Murphy is running unopposed in the blue state, and polls show he is likely to win the midterm election. Since the Sandy Hook mass shooting in 2012, Murphy has been vocal about gun control policy and has been consistent with a liberal voting record.
“I am not personally worried about who we are going to put in office, because it will be our Democratic candidate, and I trust Chris Murphy, he’s been with us for several years, and I haven’t heard him say anything that I disagree with,” Larson said.
Advanced Reporting Times 