The GOP’s real problem

| 8:00 pm EDT June 24, 2021
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The United Nations issued a warning that world leaders are still “far away” from reaching a deal to prevent the climate apocalypse. Continued climatic disaster is inevitable, but the quality of the world’s response to it will dictate whether we can persist as a species or whether we fall victim to the beast we have awoken in Mother Nature. With a problem of this severity, scale, and urgency, it is only natural that (most) Republicans are keen to make it worse. This could end up being a major factor in their slow undoing.

First, here’s a list of the climate deniers and fossil fuel/environmental destruction fetishists in Congress. Follow that link in the last sentence to find a simple list of all the people you should never vote for. Short answer: Republicans. Republicans are terrible on climate.

But not all Republicans. Floridians of all political persuasions are coming to the harrowing realization that their state will soon be underwater. No, seriously. Much of Florida will be entirely uninhabitable before the end of the century because it will be underwater if we cannot find a way to stop the ice caps from melting. Consequently, some Florida Republicans are beginning to accept that climate change is a very real threat.

And you know what? As extreme climate events become more frequent, more and more Republican voters nationally will begin to realize it isn’t a Chinese hoax after all. Think of agriculture country — practically synonymous with “Trump country.” They won’t be able to farm as extreme weather events increase and as local climates become less and less conducive to farming. People will lose jobs, food, and property. It’ll get ugly.

As a result, climate will increasingly become a touchpoint for Republican voters and they will demand action. The GOP is the party of fossil fuels and it’s hard to imagine when they’ll cut that umbilical cord. It would have to take serious pressure from voters, but by then, many of them would have decided to vote for the Democrats—at least temporarily—but even that seems to be a huge, pending unravelling point for the GOP.

By contrast, Democrats take climate seriously. President Biden just called global warming the “greatest threat facing America.” He’s said that there will be untold economic disaster from climate change. This is all true. It is also true that President Biden’s plan isn’t perfect, but when your options are what the Democrats are doing for climate and what the Republicans are doing for oil and gas, it’s abundantly clear who you want at the helm.