In what’s been deemed by experts as a “high-stakes” election, parsing through legislation is no small task for the average voter. Four USC experts in environmental issues, public health and education spoke with the Daily Trojan to break down the implications of the two majority party campaigns’ positions in their respective fields.

Shannon Gibson is a professor in environmental studies, international relations and political science. Her research focuses on global climate negotiations, which will be greatly impacted by the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.

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“Who our next president is utterly decisive for what our country does in terms of climate mitigation moving forward,” Gibson said. “Now that we have rejoined the Paris Agreement, we have at least tangible goals — quantitative goals — of reducing our global [and] national greenhouse gas emissions.”

The Paris Agreement is an international climate change treaty pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach net zero emissions by 2050. Gibson believes that the United States will “likely leave the treaty again” under the Donald Trump administration, which had first decided to leave the treaty back in June 2017.

Fracking is a major issue climate activists have sought to regulate because of its negative environmental byproduct. Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are outspoken supporters of fracking, with the former promising to expand land available for drilling and expedite drilling permits.

“Another way to look at [the election] is that you are voting for the candidate that will shape the landscape that you will continue to fight in for the causes you believe in over the next four years,” said Allison Agsten, the director of USC Annenberg’s Center for Climate Journalism and Communication. “The election is not simply, ‘I am for Kamala Harris, or I am for Donald Trump,’ but ‘This is the battleground that I want to work from in the next four years.’”

Climate is also “inextricably linked” with public health, according to Gibson. Climate change shows up in more ways than just hotter days — it continues to cause extreme weather events, the transmission of infectious diseases, and, more recently, mental health-related issues like climate anxiety.

“When it comes to climate policies, Harris would be more beneficial from a climate mitigation perspective, but also doesn’t exactly get us to the place that we, as the United States, need to be in terms of contributing our historically responsible fair share of what we should be doing,” Gibson said. “No matter the outcome [of the election], it doesn’t negate the power of people to move forward in a positive manner.”

Another big-ticket issue in this upcoming election is reproductive healthcare. With promises of reform on both sides of the aisle, the state of policy surrounding the issue is uncertain. However, the role of healthcare providers remains clear to some.

“Our job is to ensure that our patients receive the care that they need. That will never change,” said Dr. Brian Nguyen, an associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Keck School of Medicine. “I think what will change is how challenging it is for our patients to get to us, how much they’ll have to sacrifice in order to obtain the care that they need.”

Questions around reproductive freedom have come to the forefront of political discourse; though, according to Nguyen, the issue has always existed.

“People being anti-abortion or not trusting women to infer for themselves what is best for their lives has been around. Even prior to the Dobbs-Jackson decision, women have always faced impediments to choice, and it’s in the limelight now,” Nguyen said. “We’re at a flash point in our nation whereby we’re beginning to see what happens when women are deprived of their rights for self-determination.”

In a world where access to necessary abortions is narrowed, healthcare providers like Nguyen worry about the physical, monetary and emotional costs patients might have to pay.

“I think it’s very easy to say that my female patients are under attack,” Nguyen said. “If ever there was a time to be understanding of the need for reproductive rights, that time is now.”

Education reform — especially within the public school system — is a similarly relevant and wide-reaching issue in this upcoming election.

“Public education is really one of the last democratic institutions where we all have to go together,” said Morgan Polikoff, an associate professor of education. “I do worry about the ongoing attacks on public education from the right and whether they’re going to permanently destabilize the public education system.”

Despite the dire state of the issue, education hasn’t been a major focus of the election, as seen with its absence in questions at the debates. Nonetheless, election outcomes will inform everyone’s educational experience.

“I think if Republicans win, it’s very likely that there will be an expansion of school choice efforts,” Polikoff said. “There will be continued attacks on race and LGBT-related subjects in schools because that seems to be a focus [for Republicans].”

While education and curriculum policy is a divisive issue, the Democrats’ stance is not as clear as their political counterparts. Still, Polikoff fears for the future of K-12 education.

“My hope is that we have an administration that is focused first and foremost on solving problems in our public education system, on giving schools the resources they need and the support to improve — not on sewing division or pushing a particular partisan agenda through public schools,” Polikoff said. “The vote really does matter when it comes to public education, not just at the national level but at the local and state level too, which is where most of this action happens.”