There appears to be just one major group of people left on Earth who doubt that climate change is caused by human activity. They call themselves the Republican Party.
This should not be particularly surprising – the list of falsehoods preached by the GOP is as long as your arm, and includes such timeless classics as “outlawing abortion prevents unwanted pregnancies,” “wealth trickles down from the top” and “government regulations cost jobs.”
However, it might be their denial of climate change that’s particularly troubling for humankind. Not only are parts of the country and the world already feeling the effects of climate change, but the process has also very nearly reached the point of no return.
The Case for Climate Change
In case there are still skeptics in the audience, it might be worth our time to discuss in brief why the debate over climate change is definitively over, despite the obscurantism practiced by Congressional Republicans.
Across the world, 97 percent of climate scientists have joined their voices with the consensus: Climate change is real, and it’s caused by human activity.
It’s not an agenda manufactured by proponents of world government. It’s not a liberal conspiracy designed to take control of commerce. It’s certainly not a hoax invented by the Chinese, as the Artist Formerly Known as Drumpf would have you believe.
To deny climate change is to deny science itself – and in 2016, that’s not just pig-headed, it’s also 100 percent morally wrong. Imogen Reed, an economic and financial writer from London, has some sharp words for the GOP and their followers:
“In Europe, climate change denial is seen as the preserve of the crackpot … Few political figures or members of the news media would dream of mentioning it, as doing so often receives the same contempt from the European public as denying the Holocaust.”
In other words, the denial of climate change is a distinctly American phenomenon. The theory of American Exceptionalism has never rung as hollow as it does today.
How the Republicans Sabotage New Industries …
Let’s come at this from another angle. Even if the Republican Party had legitimate reasons for doubting the evidence put forth by climate scientists – and they certainly do not – they’re ignoring another huge implication of taking action on climate change: The possibility of brand-new industries.
Remember: The GOP is supposed to be the party of rugged capitalism, entrepreneurship and competition, right? So why on earth are they actively working against legislation that would help give rise to new ventures in solar, wind and even nuclear power all across this country? Republican leadership in Nevada, for example, has declared an all-out war on the state’s nascent solar industry.
The simple truth is that the GOP only stands up for free enterprise when the enterprises involved happen to be the ones that line their pockets come campaign season. For example: It’s public knowledge that Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has received the vast majority of his campaign donations from the fossil fuels industry. Marco Rubio is also on the take from dirty energy industries. Is it any wonder why they speak out so strongly against taking action on climate change?
… And Block New Technologies From Being Developed
If the GOP’s obstruction on commonsense climate change solutions are bringing about untold economic harm, they’re also sacrificing technological progress at the same time.
Experts all agree that new technologies are not just important for tackling climate change, but could actually be decisive in turning this trend around. That stands to reason – humankind has almost always innovated itself out of tight spots. Crises have a tendency to spark inventiveness and out-of-the-box thinking.
Ignoring the problem altogether is not just tone-deaf and ignorant – it also deliberately ignores the promise of new technologies and their host of amazing implications. If, for example, the United States spent as much to subsidize wind and solar companies as it does to subsidize coal, natural gas and oil companies, solar power would be cheaper and more efficient than ever – and would be well within the reach of many American households who cannot currently afford it. As it stands now, the United States is spending $20.5 billion on fossil fuel subsidies every year – propping up dying industries and ignoring altogether the potential that emerging alternative energy sources could usher in.
The truth is, efficient and environmentally responsible technologies could have a direct impact on dozens of hugely important industries, including metal fabrication, mining operations, railroads and satellite component manufacturing. Even something as innocuous as an air compressor, if it’s designed with sustainability in mind, could do our world a world of good.
However, that’s not going to happen if we keep burying our heads in the sand. We’ve reached a moment in time when forward progress will not just be difficult, but possibly outright impossible if our nation does not make a conscious effort to educate itself properly on the many crises now facing our planet.
Wealth might not trickle down from on high, but stupidity definitely does.