Have We Given Up the Fight Against Climate Change?

As of a 3/28/18 Gallup Poll, only about 45% of Americans (i.e., 18% of Republicans and 67% of Democrats) think climate change will pose a serious threat in their lifetime. Even more discouraging, only 6% of Americans say they believe the world can and will successfully combat climate change, and about 20% of those surveyed said that’s because people are unwilling to change their behavior. Most people don’t even want to talk about it. If I bring it up in conversation, such as by citing the New York Times’ October 7th article citing “strong risk of [climate] crisis as early as 2040”, I feel most people think I’m boring. “Let me get on with my greenhouse-gas polluting life” is the implicit message. Which partially explains why almost none of the midterm election candidates discuss climate change, even though the consequences to the planet, wildlife, and our health and way of life will be devastating, through 2040 and beyond. It’s analogous to cigarette smokers laughing away their dismal health future when someone mentions a new clinical study unequivocally linking smoking to cancer. “Let me enjoy my smoke!” I’ve heard them say. (Almost all my relatives died from smoking-related diseases, by the way.) That’s how our lying, anti-environmental president gets away with making a patriotic speech on the anniversary of 9/11 on the same day he repealed the Obama-era methane rules (because they were too burdensome to industry). And who wants to talk about climate change when there’s another, more sensational news story—such as Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual assault scandal? Who wants to be so plebeian as to mention that every time in his career that he had a chance to vote on climate and environmental issues, Kavanaugh chose to protect corporate polluters and stand against the health and well-being of people and planet?

So we in Fairfax County should be content with the ever-worsening humidity, making days above 78o F stifling hot, so that you sweat profusely when you merely walk around the block? We should learn to accept that, as the years go by, the Universal Thermal Climate Index will be so high that just being outdoors in the summer--without even exercising--will be intolerable? We should be content with nights that don’t cool off, where nighttime humidity reaches or approaches 100% at dawn? We should accept the ever-growing stretches of rainy days, the rising number of ticks, mosquitoes, roaches, and other vermin? Yes, I’ve seen more roaches in this area, on our front porch when I leave the light on, and in local restaurants. They are increasingly noted in the Fairfax County Health Department inspection reports. Will we just accept that, sooner or later, we’ll be hit with a hurricane as devastating as Florence which, among its many horrific impacts, was responsible for killing millions of chickens and thousands of pigs in Duplin County, NC? Finally, will we just accept that everywhere we travel, we will notice climate change’s disturbing impacts: wildfires; diseases affecting vegetation and wildlife; hotter, dryer, and/or more humid and rainy weather; increasing storm intensity; worsening air quality in populated areas; etc.? Those are all things the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been warning us about in their reports, which started in 1990. To doubt the reports’ conclusions is to ignore reality (which most Americans do).

Very few of us are willing to buy a car that gets at least 50 mpg so that those of us who walk or ride a bicycle beside the road will not have to breathe toxic exhaust that has been indisputably linked to breast cancer and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, and Parkinson’s. We won’t consider electing someone who intrepidly stresses that climate change has already begun, is an urgent issue, will soon become devastating, and who will immediately fight to enact laws to curb or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions? Thanks to our current junk-food eating president, who recently proposed gutting the oil and gas industry's crucial limits on methane (whose global warming potential is 86 times that of CO2 over 20 years), the percentage of Republicans who think the seriousness of global warming is generally exaggerated has increased from 66% last year to 69% this year. For Democrats, those numbers are 32% and 34%. That most people would rather drive a heavy gas-guzzler (to date, SUV and truck sales are booming) in this awful DC traffic than focus on fuel efficiency is outrageous. Well, Trump rolled back fuel efficiency standards, so fuel economy must not matter, right? And don’t forget that air transportation is the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. As of 5/7/18, global tourism is responsible for about 8% of greenhouse gas emissions. I live just under five (straight-line) miles from Dulles Airport, and I’ve noticed that every year the number of planes flying overhead has been growing. Not only is the noise increasingly annoying, it raises blood pressure, disrupts sleep, and irritates the central nervous system. It’s also a constant reminder that, as of 2016, aviation already accounts for over 2.5 percent of global greenhouse gas pollution, an increase of 7% from 2014, and is increasing by an average of 5% a year. Robust growth in air travel in the US resulted in a 9.2 million metric ton increase in aviation emissions in 2017. And because jet exhaust is emitted high in the sky where the air is thin and the chemistry complex, aircraft emissions have a warming effect that is 1.9 times that of carbon dioxide alone.

To sum it up, climate change is already here, the evidence is everywhere, and its impacts are getting worse and more alarming each year. So we obviously must do everything possible to combat it, including insisting that our elected representatives recognize the warnings (from climate scientists and reputable research) and enact laws to address it immediately, or we are definitely doomed. I remember laughing when a former environmental project manager coworker said, “Let the next generation solve the climate change crisis.” That is no longer either true or funny. Maybe you haven’t been affected by the increasingly severe weather or been bitten by the new species of warm-weather-loving ticks that transmit incurable, debilitating diseases. Maybe no one in your family has had breast cancer or Alzheimer’s. (I’ve had both in mine, without hereditary probability.) Maybe you don’t care about this overcast, rainy, and insufferably humid weather that makes being outside harder and harder. Maybe you think I’m exaggerating, and there’s nothing to worry about. To you, I say consider that the IPCC has been very conservative in defining its conclusions, for fear of being accused of embellishing or over-dramatizing. Recognize that now, even climate scientists are shocked by the synergistic effects of the physical and chemical aspects of climate change, which are causing it to rapidly accelerate. Twice I have stressed (in person) to my elected representatives (both Democrats) that climate change is the most critical, urgent issue facing our region and the world today. Both times their response was, “Why don’t you try convincing my Republican colleagues of your point of view?” In other words, “I don’t want to go out on a limb and stand out by stating the truth, because it might turn off my non-believing constituents.” Well, you who ignore climate change--and allow your representatives to do so—are making President Trump happy and facilitating his insidious all-out war on the environment. Sure, the responsible among us can fight climate change by walking or riding a bike to run errands, becoming vegetarians, not wasting food, flying less, buying a lightweight electric or hybrid car, getting rooftop solar panels, etc. But until we elect representatives who will stand up to Trump and the climate deniers by enacting laws to fight climate change and preserve nature, we’ll hardly make a dent in the crisis.