Why is it so difficult for President Trump and today’s Republican Party to admit that the burning of fossil fuels causes global warming? Climate change science is more than 100 years old. Oil company scientists warned their employers about the impending consequences more than 50 years ago. U.S. intelligence analysts have expressed concerns since the 1980s. Our own Department of Defense has stated that climate change presents the most serious long term national security risk.
With nature the source of all life on our planet, including we humans, the first step is to admit we are facing a crisis. The second step is to accept responsibility and be willing to act. With climate change being real and its escalating cost and damages to life now so readily observable, why is there still so much denial?
While 20 years ago the Republican Party was working on climate change legislation, today the same party apparently does not care anymore about the impacts and costs on future generations. Could this denial be caused by the fact that climate change requires long range planning and implementation by government including international collaboration, both stringently opposed by President Trump and the Republican party? With global warming knowing no borders and affecting everyone on our planet, collaborative “common good” actions are essential to achieve results.
We all know Mother Nature is batting last. This is why, starting Sept. 20, students are organizing a week long worldwide climate strike. Please support them, but equally important, insist that our elected officials take actions to counter the coming climate crisis.
Werner Heiber
Durango
