Because Republican leaders get money from corporations that benefit from ignoring science, like the cigarette makers did for decades, or because they actually own or own stock in those corporations, they pretend not to believe the overwhelming evidence for climate change. It would cost a lot of money to protect cities and states from climate change and the corporations hate that. It also costs a lot of money when hurricanes or other weather events kill people and destroy wide swaths of cities and states, but that is not their problem. The politicians could not do this unless the citizens allowed it. Strangely, it is the citizens of the very states most vulnerable to the increasing storms who most often elect and support politicians who are the most outspoken climate deniers.
It is a wonder that a state like Florida, which will get pummeled by Michael, could vote for someone that denies climate change. Think of how backwards the situation is – the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has reportedly been banned from using the terms “climate change” and “global warming”. This policy reportedly went into effect when Florida elected a science denier, Rick Scott, to governor.
Rick Scott has been condemned by people in Florida for his backward stance. It is climate denial like his that has contributed to the suffering of residents in the state.
It’s not that my colleagues haven’t tried to help Governor Scott understand how his policies hurt his state. A few years ago, scientists met with him and urged him to take climate change seriously. He remained silent.
It isn’t that the local media hasn’t tried. Major newspapers have called upon Rick Scott to take action on climate change. But to little avail. Maybe it’s because Rick Scott invests in companies that oppose climate change regulations?
It isn’t that his political opponents haven’t tried. Recently, Florida Democrats petitioned Rick Scott to acknowledge climate change.
Climate Deniers
Having to pack up and run for your life and hoping something might be left for you to come home to has always been the price of living in the otherwise paradisaical areas subject to these storms. In the past, that might happen once every few years and people thought that was a reasonable trade off. Now, it happens much more frequently and the damage is much worse. Citizens still love their climate denier politicians though.
But it’s not just Florida; there are other states getting hit by Hurricane Michael that are also led by climate deniers. For instance, Georgia will be hit by Hurricane Michael. One of the senators there, David Perdue, congratulated President Trump when he pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord. Georgia’s other Senator, Johnny Isakson also denies the science. He too supported President Trump’s reckless actions.
Citizens have the evidence of their own experiences to demonstrate that the climate is changing and getting hotter but they are able to dismiss them as just a new normal. They have the evidence of years of scientific research and the almost universal agreement among scientists that the climate has changed, will continue to change, and will change at a faster pace than previously thought. They reject this evidence with ridicule as fake news made up by egg heads and leftists.
Why, because their political and religious leaders tell them to. If standing in the wreckage of a town devastated by yet another super storm or storm of the century does not cause sufficient cognitive dissonance to force a reassessment of beliefs about the value of science or the reliability of those political and religious leaders, then it is not clear what circumstance would. They are being reassured by their national and state and local leaders that everything is just fine and this is the way things have always been. If they are nervous, they should pray. If they don’t want to pray, they are probably godless Yankees and should move somewhere else.