prominent environmental lemmy community has a mod who is hoping the green party candidate drops out.

I'm not familiar with this particular case, but in general it's completely reasonable to not be a single-issue voter dedicated to one party. Politics is complicated and parties have broad (sometimes conflicting) platforms. Even when one party clearly fits your ideals, occasionally they have a particular candidate that you just can't get behind.

Not voting for the green party doesn't mean you don't want or fight for better climate policy. That sort of thinking is what's gotten us into this "voting against them" mess.

You can be anywhere on the political spectrum and still be an environmentalist. E.g., historically, hunters have been at the forefront of conservationism, if only so that they can continue to hunt wild animals. Many capitalists are "green" if only to carve a niche for their products, e.g., The Muskrat.

What does running as a spoiler actually accomplish? They are doing nothing but taking away votes from the democrat candidate* with no chance of being elected to national office. If you want better environmental policy, and actually want to accomplish it then the democrats are your only realistic option.

*I understand and respect that a good portion of Greens would not vote for the Democrat, but anyone who is likely on the fence is vastly more likely to vote D than R. I am also very happy to acknowledge that our voting system sucks and we should implement ranked choice nationally. I would like to the Green party as a viable option in the future, but it is not in 2024, all this candidacy is accomplishing is helping the republican nominee. I am still bitter that my first time voting was for Nader because I was dumb. I would honestly love to see examples of the Green party working to actually build up their base in local elections as that is the only way they are going to ever be viable and not just a spoiler.