Joe Biden just did the rarest thing in US politics: he stood up to the oil industry; The Biden administration suspended new permits for natural gas terminals. Can we see more of this kind of backbone?
"It's not perfect, therefore it's useless, and because it is, I'm going to vote for the worse alternative. Don't make me explain my reasoning further."
The idea that all politicians are corrupt and conniving bastards is mainly a right-wing fiction. They assume everybody acts exactly like they themselves do
Uh, what? Where did I say to use hopes and prayers? And I do improve the world, regularly. It's small ways, but that's kind of the point: it all adds up...
Apathy is absolutely the problem, but "just" getting out there and voting means replacing them with whatever new asshats the existing donor class selects for you. Actual change is going to require voting, and then getting back out there the next day (and every day thereafter) to hold their feet to the fire through direct action, strikes, organizing, protests, call campaigns, and every other tool at our disposal. Pretending otherwise is almost as much of a disservice as the "voting changes nothing argument.
That said, there is a way of not voting that DOES make a difference. Politicians DO pay attention to the differences between votes for various party members on the same ballot. So if you really can't stomach voting for someone, voting for down (or up) ballot races and leaving that one office blank tells them their policies are unpopular with voting members of "their own" party - and that WILL scare them in a way that low turnout won't.
You say that like most Americans wouldn't support doing literally anything that would lower gas prices. The problem is trying to make everyone happy.
I mean, most people I know bring up gas prices before they bring up climate change, if at all. I try to remind these people that while the president/Congress can take actions to increase drilling there are many of us in the US that would prefer they didn't.
I usually then make it clear how obviously easy it is for me to say that as someone that works from home and isn't as impacted by gas prices; context is always important.