On Nov. 3, millions of members of Generation Z will be able to cast their first ballots in a presidential election. Polls show that climate change and the environment rank high among young voters' top issues. 

These young people will account for 37% of eligible voters, equaling Baby Boomers and older generations, with Gen X rounding out the remaining quarter. Much is at stake for climate policy in the country: 

Will a second term for President Donald Trump solidify his environmental rollbacks, or will Democratic nominee Joe Biden return the U.S. to the Paris Agreement and its position as a global leader? 

EarthBeat spoke with seven young Christians about the election, their vote and climate change. All plan to vote. All said climate change is affecting their lives, and all see their faith influencing how they vote and why they care about the climate crisis.  

In her first job in Catholic journalism, 25 years ago, NCR executive editor Heidi Schlumpf learned that two other staff writers - both men - earned several thousand dollars a year more than she did, even though she had more experience.

When she asked her editor for a raise, he defended the discrepancy noting that, as a married woman, Schlumpf's salary was a supplement to her husband's.

"Today that would be illegal - thanks to women like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and others of her generation who fought so that women would be treated equally, especially in the workplace," Schlumpf writes.