How would you answer the question? I see the pending disaster in Southwest Florida as additional evidence of climate change. To me it’s obvious. Others, however, would answer by asking me to give them a break. They would remind me that hurricanes are nothing new. They would also ask me for evidence of a direct causal connection between climate change and hurricane Ian. Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s possible. Even Al Gore would struggle to find a credible answer.
So why do I think Hurricane Ian is telling us something? It’s because we have had a year of heat waves, forest fires, and record cold snaps. We have also had a year of video showing the Greenland ice cap melt and listened to scientists talk to us about the sea level rising.
The message about climate change has been received by the Democrats. The so-called Inflation Reduction Act includes large appropriations to address climate change. I applaud President Biden for his win on the bill.
Republicans, unfortunately, did not get the memo. Have you read Republican Leader McCarthy’s “Commitment to America?” It is supposed to be a set of promises to the American people to be delivered on if the Republicans win control of Congress. When I read it, I looked for something on climate change. I didn’t find one. Republicans want America to energy independent and build a wall on the Mexican border in the hope of stemming illegal immigration. Climate change, to them, is less important that those and the other issues addressed in the plan.
For several years I have wondered what it will take to get conservatives to accept the reality that climate change is an existential threat to our future. Do we need a category six hurricane? Or more “heat domes?” I don’t know but am struggling to continue to believe that some time soon, some time before it is too late, that a national consensus will emerge that will prompt government action that will make last month’s Inflation Reduction Act look small.
In thinking about climate change this week, I also thought about what issues have trumped it this past year. The answer is Trump, his big lie, and efforts to those responsible for January 6 accountable. I wonder, had Donald Trump simply walked away from the presidency after losing the 2020 election, would the nation have had a different conversation, a conversation about climate change, racial equity and justice, and public health? I suspect we would.
I have also noticed the last couple of days that there is more news about Hurricane Ian than there is about Trump. Even the final hearing of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack on the Capitol has been postponed.
I had planned to spend this afternoon watching the January 6 hearing. I was looking forward, in a perverse sort of way, to watching the teased excerpts of Roger Stone’s documentary about January 6. I expected to see more “bombshells” proving Trump’s involvement in the insurrection. Instead, my TV will be tuned to the Weather Channel. I dread seeing storm surges of up to 12 feet in an area of Florida that I visit regularly.
I will be thinking about climate change. Hurricane Ian is telling us that there something out there even more important than holding Trump and others accountable for their crimes. That something is addressing climate change.
J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, and other subjects.
Sonia Williamson says
I do believe you may enjoy and appreciate a class in weather and climate – just study the weather events for the last 100 years. You do not have have to go back thousands of years, to learn what you are saying sounds so silly.
John Dean says
I’m not sure how to respond to your comment. I have been listening to climate scientists and have concluded that climate change is a major risk that is evidenced in things like hurricane Ian.
Sorry that you find expressions of concern about climate change “silly.”
Ernest Wilson says
Maybe if we act like Montgomery County and outlaw gas powered leaf blowers we can avoid the next hurricane. Like King Canute we can command the tide to go out. Or maybe we can wait until the hurricane passes before we start with the political stuff
John Dean says
Thanks for reading the piece. I wish Talbot County would outlaw gas powered leaf blowers. They not only spew out pollution and contribute to climate change but are very loud.
Henry Herr says
The same people that say climate change doesn’t exist or man has no effect on climate are often the same as those who claim elections were stolen and deny the effectiveness of vaccines. It isn’t political. In my mind Republicans have made it political, but it comes down to one thing. Facts. These people refuse facts and only believe the progandists that they listen to. Truly sad for our country when we still can’t make up our own minds and not what we are told.
If your response to my statement is that I only listen to the “main stream media” or something else, perhaps you should look at the facts yourself. No one in a court of law has proven widespread fraud. Millions of scientists have proven time and time again the effectiveness of vaccines and that humans have directly contributed to climate change.
https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus
Ernest Wilson says
Oh for heaven’s sake, who said anything about vaccines or election integrity. And as far as ” millions of scientists”, please list 25 or 15 or 6 nuclear physicists who have weighed in on climate change.
Henry Herr says
I provided that link for inquiring minds. It lists many of the Scentific organizations, including Nuclear Physicists, that have weighed in on the issue.
John Dean says
Thank you for your comment. I hope anyone that has doubts about climate change will visit the NASA web page you reference.
Shirley Hilton says
I agree that climate change has been debated ad nauseam. It is apparent to those of us who are paying attention, and who understand science (even at the most basic level). I fear that those who deny, or simply don’t make it a priority, do not care about future generations. They are focused on the comforts of their own current lives, assuming that they’ll be dead by the time climate change makes this planet unlivable. So sad. So self-centered. However, this is not an either/or discussion. It’s a both/and. We must prosecute those responsible for the January 6th attack on our democracy AND focus on climate change…and many other issues. If our representatives in Federal and State government can not handle more than one issue at a time, it’s time to replace them.
John Dean says
Thank you for your comment. I agree this is not an either/or discussion. It is important to hold those responsible for January 6 accountable. It is more important to address climate change. Both should be pursued simultaneously.
Deirdre LaMotte says
Hey, wonderful post! Yes, we can protect America’s democracy and climate change at the same time.
Why would it be either/or??
Todd Wittman says
You sir should be ashamed of yourself!
John Dean says
For what? For thinking that the hurricane may have been as bad as it has been because of climate change?
Stephen Wheeler says
Climate change is undeniable. Earth has lived with this condition since it was created. Causes, our ability to affect it and what options are realistic are highly debatable. If you believe politicians can solve this problem I would ask you to look at the other problems they have totally mis-managed and made worse ,our Education system, healthcare, national debt, Covid response, IRS, FEMA,CDC, FBI, and so many other bloated ineffective bureaucratic disasters.
Wilson Dean says
Surveys illustrate that the same general portion of the population who denies climate change also thought COVID was a hoax. That mistake regarding the pandemic has cost the US over 1 million deaths and counting, and the US total constitutes 16% of the world’s total deaths. That US death rate is disproportionately high compared to all other nations, particularly when one considers we developed vaccines so quickly and they are widely available in this country. Today more than 30% of adults in the US are not fully vaccinated.
That same portion of the population likewise rejects the validity of climate change. This is discouraging for a country that has the resource of the US to contain a grouping of people who simply are not sufficiently adult to accept facts. If the COVID non-believers provided the foundation for over 1 million deaths in this country, just imagine what devastation they can reek on the entire world by denying the existence and dangers of climate change.
There is a strong reason why there is no mention of climate change in the Republican “Commitment to America.” It is simply because the Republican party has no ideology or political policies other than that given them by the daily whims of disgraced President Trump. They are like sheep awaiting the shepherd to direct them where to go, even if it’s to the slaughterhouse.
Ernest Wilson says
Wilson, God bless you. But when people attack other people instead of the issue, the discussion goes nowhere. Many believe in the efficacy of the vaccine, the general outcome of the election, the fact of climate change and the need for environmental protection, but still question the ability of people (and in particular government) to change climate. And those same people can vote for the dreaded “Republicans”. Believe it.
Deirdre LaMotte says
How the heck can one believe we can tackle climate with out, “the dreaded”,
government? The GOP has no interest in
tackling this issue because the Party is funded by the fossil fuel industry. That is a given. Just like the abortion issue: anti science fueled by evangelicals. Even Hershel Walker pays for abortions. But, hey, McConnell and his Party need a useful idiot.
The GOP is sick.
Steve Shimko says
Here’s an interesting tidbit about hurricanes, Florida, and climate change.
Former Florida Governor. Charlie Crist (a Republican), arrived in office in 2007 determined to address what he described as an existential threat to the state. In his for State of the State address, he said “Florida is more vulnerable to rising ocean levels and violent weather patterns than any other state.” He convened a climate change summit in Miami, created a task force focused on the issue, and signed an executive order to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and mandate more energy-efficient building codes.
When Scott won the governor’s race with support from the tea party and came to office in 2011, the climate change issue all but vanished from the state’s agenda. During his tenure as governor, his administration did little to prepare for the inevitable effects of climate change that will wreak havoc in the years to come, even as hurricane Irma was ravishing Florida in 2017. When asked whether climate change might have anything to do with hurricanes and associated flooding, Scott just repeated the typical response of a climate change denier “I am not a scientist”.
And let’s not forget that the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting stated that state employees had been discouraged from using the terms “climate change” and “global warming.” One state official even refused to utter the words in a public hearing.
So in the case of Florida and hurricane Ian, it’s not a stretch to say that “you reap what you sow”.
Deirdre LaMotte says
Florida has a chance to elect Crist again. Too many people are zombie voters, sticking to one Party regardless of its devolution. Sad, the American electorate. Even a devastating hurricane destroying
their homes and cities will not make them believe in science. They want to “own the Libs”. The joke is
unfortunately on them.