This Charles Pierce piece must be read in its entirety, but here's a choice clip:
What I'm discussing is a barbecue on a different scale. Fire is raging across the 5,000km length of Indonesia. It is surely, on any objective assessment, more important than anything else taking place today. And it shouldn't require a columnist, writing in the middle of a newspaper, to say so. It should be on everyone's front page. It is hard to convey the scale of this inferno, but here's a comparison that might help: it is currently producing more carbon dioxide than the US economy. And in three weeks the fires have released more CO2 than the annual emissions of Germany. But that doesn't really capture it. This catastrophe cannot be measured only in parts per million. The fires are destroying treasures as precious and irreplaceable as the archaeological remains being levelled by ISIS. Orangutans, clouded leopards, sun bears, gibbons, the Sumatran rhinoceros and Sumatran tiger, these are among the threatened species being driven from much of their range by the flames. But there are thousands, perhaps millions, more.
I freely admit that as per this excellent diary, I have personal reasons to be terrified by climate change. Like an impending hanging, the potential future demise of one's home metro area tends to concentrate the mind.
While there are other relevant issues out there, no other issue poses nearly as great a threat to billions of people. Climate change will be an even graver threat to an incalculable # of species. W/ all due respect to the GOP liars who claim that dealing w/ climate change will harm the economy, not dealing w/ it will cause far greater economic harm.
As the link notes, this ongoing environmental catastrophe is not a direct result of climate change. It is, however, exacerbating the problem. This story, however, isn't even on the radar screen.
One would think that, if one party was advocating policies that will ultimately lead to the inhabitability of various coastal areas that are home for millions of 'muricans, the other party would jump on that issue w/ both feet.* ISIS at its most harmful doesn't pose nearly the potential risk to our national security as climate change poses at its least harmful. All of the Above is not getting the job done, and a new paradigm is desperately needed.
It wouldn't take much original thought to come up w/ a platform. This guy recently came up w/ a good start:
Warming has effects on the carbon cycle. It creates a vicious circle which aggravates the situation even more, affecting the availability of essential resources like drinking water, energy and agricultural production in warmer regions, and leading to the extinction of part of the planet’s biodiversity. The melting in the polar ice caps and in high altitude plains can lead to the dangerous release of methane gas, while the decomposition of frozen organic material can further increase the emission of carbon dioxide. Things are made worse by the loss of tropical forests which would otherwise help to mitigate climate change. Carbon dioxide pollution increases the acidification of the oceans and compromises the marine food chain. If present trends continue, this century may well witness extraordinary climate change and an unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequences for all of us. A rise in the sea level, for example, can create extremely serious situations, if we consider that a quarter of the world’s population lives on the coast or nearby, and that the majority of our megacities are situated in coastal areas.
25. Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day. Its worst impact will probably be felt by developing countries in coming decades. Many of the poor live in areas particularly affected by phenomena related to warming, and their means of subsistence are largely dependent on natural reserves and ecosystemic services such as agriculture, fishing and forestry. They have no other financial activities or resources which can enable them to adapt to climate change or to face natural disasters, and their access to social services and protection is very limited. For example, changes in climate, to which animals and plants cannot adapt, lead them to migrate; this in turn affects the livelihood of the poor, who are then forced to leave their homes, with great uncertainty for their future and that of their children. There has been a tragic rise in the number of migrants seeking to flee from the growing poverty caused by environmental degradation. They are not recognized by international conventions as refugees; they bear the loss of the lives they have left behind, without enjoying any legal protection whatsoever. Sadly, there is widespread indifference to such suffering, which is even now taking place throughout our world. Our lack of response to these tragedies involving our brothers and sisters points to the loss of that sense of responsibility for our fellow men and women upon which all civil society is founded.
26. Many of those who possess more resources and economic or political power seem mostly to be concerned with masking the problems or concealing their symptoms, simply making efforts to reduce some of the negative impacts of climate change. However, many of these symptoms indicate that such effects will continue to worsen if we continue with current models of production and consumption. There is an urgent need to develop policies so that, in the next few years, the emission of carbon dioxide and other highly polluting gases can be drastically reduced, for example, substituting for fossil fuels and developing sources of renewable energy. Worldwide there is minimal access to clean and renewable energy. There is still a need to develop adequate storage technologies. Some countries have made considerable progress, although it is far from constituting a significant proportion. Investments have also been made in means of production and transportation which consume less energy and require fewer raw materials, as well as in methods of construction and renovating buildings which improve their energy efficiency. But these good practices are still far from widespread.
There is a Dem who has come up w/
an idea or two on this subject. While it's clear that he will never hold public office again, why doesn't he have elder statesman status as a party sage? He's not quite a prophet w/o honor in his party, but he's not at the forefront where he should be.
I freely admit to being a partisan for one of the 2 viable Dem presidential candidates, but I'd eagerly support any nominee who dealt w/ this crisis w/ the severity that it requires. I wish even more that there would be a widely adopted 2016 party platform on climate change drafted by by Al Gore in consultation w/ others. The Overton Windows need to be moved a long distance if we are going to save this planet, and the time to start moving them is now.
*One might think that the prospect of much of the Battery being under water might attract Wall Street's attention, but I digress.