The position that Trump and his party is taking relative to the Climate Catastrophe. A recent column posted here – An Ignorant Decision, Made by Ignorant People that Affects All Living Things - addressed this issue.
As I wrote there:
“To the title of the column, the absolute worst form of ignorance is chosen ignorance. If someone grows up with no education, family, and extreme circumstances, such as living in a refugee camp, well some level of ignorance might be expected. But to not want to be informed and choose ignorance is basically unfathomable to me.”
And
“For some reason I do not understand, the former Republican Party, now the MAGA party, does not believe in the Climate Crisis. Therefore, they are doing away with much of the science infrastructure that has been in place for seven decades. If scientific arms of the federal government help us learn about the single greatest problem facing all living things, why cut it?”
This is a WTF situation.
Just watch the nightly news on any given night. You will see the reality:
-deadly flash floods
-unprecedented wildfires in Europe
-unprecedented heat deaths in Europe [2300 deaths in 12 European cities in June with 1500 of them attributed to climate change. There were 60,000 heat deaths in Europe in 2022 and 48,000 in 2023. Estimates for 2025 are that these numbers could be topped]
-a climate change turbocharged hurricane that goes from a cat one to a cat four in 24 hours
-massive fires in the Western United States
-unprecedented tornados
-unprecedented rainfall.[the increased heat of the planet has increase the moisture in the atmosphere by 18%]
Mother Nature, or the planet, reacting to what we have done to it. Done, as in the past. What we are doing to it this year just adds to this scenario. The United States, and most Americans agree, is the “leader of the free world” and historically has been the largest polluter of GHG emissions. To not fully assume the leadership position of the United States to lead in facing the Climate Crisis is not thinking of future generations, let alone what will continue to happen in 2025 and will get worse in the decade ahead.
I have learned through much audience reaction that the demographic most concerned about the Climate Crisis are grandparents, for the obvious reason. Trump and his MAGA party, through ignorance and fundamental stupidity, are actively putting all young children at risk for much compromised lives.
When the nightly news – in many countries- shows the consequences of the Climate Crisis, it is beyond comprehension for the leader of the most powerful country in the world to call climate change “a hoax”, and worse, “a Chinese hoax”
The rapidly accelerating Climate Crisis or perhaps the Climate Catastrophe, is the Sixth Extinction Event. There have been five prior extinctions that resulted in 73-96% extinction of all living things. This current sixth extinction is the only one that is caused by a single species: humans. We are the enemy!
The only way forward is to think and act at the species level. There are a historically unprecedented numbers of species going extinct every day. Do we as humans want to avoid the collapse of civilization as we know it and subsequent extinction? Then politicians and governments need to get out of the way, shut up and stop all this nationalistic crap.
I have often stated during speeches that my view is that politicians and pre-science organized religions are two of the dominant forces holding back the future. Old beliefs and political positions need to change. The only way out is to create a species-level approach to facing this crisis. Unfortunately, I think that this level of global cohesion will not occur until our species realizes that extinction might be a real alternative. A global common enemy that threatens all living things.
Those of us alive now see the beginning of the horror show. Future generations will suffer ever increasing climate related deaths for decades due to what our species has already done.
It is slow species suicide.