Yesterday, after the fossil-fueled storms killed at least 164 people and caused billions of dollars in destruction, Trump was asked if he’d change his tune about climate change being a “hoax.” Instead, he flip-flopped. He
dismissed climate change by dismissing the hurricanes, claiming "we've had bigger storms than this."
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, under investigation for covering up secret communications with the oil industry, said it’s “
insensitive” to talk about climate change now. To “have any kind of focus on the cause and effect of the storm,” he said, “is misplaced.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Hurricanes and wildfires are ravaging communities and uprooting millions of people across North America and the Atlantic. Decisions are being made right now on how to spend billions of dollars in rebuilding and recovery. And fossil-fuel polluters are sitting on billions upon billions of ill-gotten wealth, while
the Republicans they finance vote against disaster relief.
This is the moment when we need to come together to talk about who is responsible for climate change, bring the polluters to justice, and build a renewable economy that works for all people.
With a corporate-run media that is nearly silent, and too many politicians unwilling to lead, it’s up to us to hold the officials in power responsible for their climate denial.
“Causality is something outside of my ability to analyze right now,” Tom Bossert, the White House homeland security advisor, told reporters. “I will tell you that we continue to take seriously the climate change, not the cause of it.”
It’s up to us to explain the “causality” of climate change to Tom Bossert.
“Clearly our environment changes all the time, and
whether that’s cycles we’re going through or whether that’s man-made,” Rick Scott, the Republican governor of Florida said Wednesday, “I wouldn’t be able to tell you which one it is.”
It’s up to us to tell Rick Scott “which one it is.”
Here’s the good news: a few of our elected officials have the moral courage to stand up to these liars.
In the wake of Harvey, Irma, and the western wildfires, “
there is no place for climate deniers to hide,” climate hawk Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington wrote. “We must seize this moment to help the victims of these storms, and we must seize this moment to take action on climate change.”
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It’s denying reality,” Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida responded. “You can call it politics or whatever, but the Earth is getting hotter. This storm is another reminder of what we’re going to have to deal with in the future.”
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This is the time to talk about climate change. This is the time that the president and the E.P.A. and whoever makes decisions needs to talk about climate change,” Tomás Regalado, Mayor of Miami, said. “If this isn’t climate change, I don’t know what is. This is truly, truly a poster child for what is to come.”
For too long we’ve tried the politics of compromise and appeasement with carbon polluters. As a result, we’ve ended up with oil billionaires and climate deniers running our country while our fellow Americans suffer and die in unprecedented climate disasters.