The Existential Threat
The climate is changing, and humans are responsible. Entire nations will cease to exist as they are swallowed up by the ocean. Others will add levees and some will even build islands and move entire populations of a million or more people. Extreme weather is pounding us relentlessly - and that’s only going to get worse. The overwhelming majority of one party in Congress see the problem and have proposed a framework for helping our citizens adjust. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than watching it happen and doing nothing at all.
Which is exactly what the Republicans in Congress are doing as we type. As the world leader, it’s no exaggeration to say that the single-minded do-nothing party is an existential threat to us all. And no, we’re not drinking the Democratic kool-aid either. The bill as it stands doesn’t go nearly far enough to address the problems that we’re already seeing and going to see more of. But as options go, great is the enemy of good. And the climate bill is just that — good, not great. There are holes we could knock into it all day long.
It’s funny that we couldn’t get any climate legislation passed when eight short months ago the Republicans themselves had a climate bill that they were shooting for — a climate bill that included a lot of what’s in the Build Back Better plan. Don’t believe us?
Build Back Better - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/21/climate/manchin-climate-change-build-back-better.html
Republican Proposal from April - https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/549449-house-republicans-deliver-a-commonsense-climate-plan
The point here is that this is a political play and at Right and Freedom, we don’t blame the Democrats for this one. After all, they got all but one of their party on board in the Senate — monumental by any standard save one: the Republicans got every single one of their Senators to put gaining power over the fate of the entire country. No, climate change has global impact — over the world. And more people will assuredly die with every day we keep increasing our carbon emissions. Money pushes the carbon footprint up (consider the proliferation of NFTs and nearly ubiquitous block-chain currencies). The only force capable of pushing back is our government, and now that opportunity is slowly trickling away.
That’s why it’s not hyperbole to say that the Senate Republicans, at least, have become an existential threat to us all. Want to know more details? Listen to the podcast above.
