Catastrophic climate change. Most of us know it is here. Some unfortunate people in Tennessee and their communities are living (and tragically dying) it right now. From an NPR news story:
At least 22 people were killed and rescue crews searched desperately Sunday amid shattered homes and tangled debris for dozens of people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Middle Tennessee.
Saturday's flooding in rural areas took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving families uncertain about whether their loved ones survived the unprecedented deluge. Emergency workers were searching door to door, said Kristi Brown, a coordinator for health and safety supervisor with Humphreys County Schools.
The storms obliterated the previous record for 24 hour total rainfall in Tennessee. It is fairly simple: Higher temperatures mean more energy in the atmosphere which mean more violent and unpredictable storms. The local meteorologists had predicted 4 to 6 inches of rain in their flash flood warning. They got 17. From an AP story on the storms and flooding:
A flash flood watch was issued for the area before the rain started, with forecasters saying 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of rain was possible. The worst storm recorded in this area of Middle Tennessee only dropped 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain, said Krissy Hurley, a weather service meteorologist in Nashville.
The same story describes this absolutely heartbreaking scene:
The downpours rapidly turned the creeks that run behind backyards and through downtown Waverly into raging rapids. Business owner Kansas Klein stood on a bridge Saturday in the town of 4,500 people and saw two girls who were holding on to a puppy and clinging to a wooden board sweep past, the current too fast for anyone to grab them. He hadn't found out what happened to them.
Will this tragedy cause any of the climate change deniers in the TN Republican party to pull their head out of the sand? I think many of them know catastrophic climate change is real but just don’t see the lives of those two girls, or anyone else, as truly valuable enough to make them stand up, admit they were wrong, and tell their masters in the fossil fuel industry to fuck off. We will see. Most likely, there will be lots of talk of “thoughts and prayers” and then we will move on to the next multitudes of strange and unprecedented climate events without doing the hard things that need to be done.
There is a long tradition in this country of us liberals having to do the heavy lifting on the moral issues of our time. Abolishing slavery, children’s rights, worker’s rights, women’s rights, human rights of many varieties. Movements against unjust wars and for environmental protections. Battles fought and won by largely progressive/liberal movements. And of course the same is now true in the battle against catastrophic climate change. I expect the Republicans to be dragged along by the rest of us.
Since you are reading this on DailyKos I assume you already are doing the most important work in this fight — helping elect more and better Democrats. But are you working on these other fronts? Here are 7 additional things that you can do to dramatically reduce your climate/ecological footprint:
1. Stop eating meat. (or)
2. Eat much less meat. I’ll let you do your own research but it is absolutely clear that a plant based diet has a dramatically lower carbon footprint. Think direct emissions from animal based agriculture and the destruction of forests globally to grow cattle and animal feed.
3. Use public transport, walking/biking, or fuel efficient vehicles.
4. Minimize use of plastics in all aspects of daily life. Almost all plastics are made from fossil fuels.
5. Consider energy efficiency in every purchase you make, from a vehicle to an appliance to a lightbulb.
6. If you are fortunate enough to have money in traditional retirement mutual funds — move it. Don’t let your portfolio fund fossil fuel and other high carbon pollution companies. It can take some work but you have the power to choose to invest in wind and solar and other alternative energy companies. Or green bonds.
7. Give money or time to organizations working on this crisis.
As an aside, if this hasn’t already been done, I think the Democrats need to put a simple resolution to vote in the House and Senate and force a vote. Something like “We as elected leaders in the USA understand climate change is real, caused by man-made carbon emissions, and greatly threatens our security and way of life.” Put the Conservatives on record now as climate science deniers so it’s harder for them to re-write history when our country is dealing with millions of internally displaced climate refugees and more frequent disasters. Or maybe just as being on the wrong side of history again in a battle fought and barely won by people doing the right things and the hard things.