The Climate Change Taboo
Climate change is a life and death issue for the entire planet. This threat is
clearly explained in a recent article in Rolling Stone by environmental activist
Bill McKibben titled “The Reckoning,” (Issue 1162, August 2, 2012). The article
verifies that political and economic elites around the world have done little or
nothing to control the vast amounts of carbon entering the atmosphere.
The United States is the world’s largest economy and the world’s largest
consumer of carbon based fuels (coal, oil, natural gas). The U.S. is also the only
country in the world where a major political party (the GOP) harbors large
numbers of climate change deniers. There are two schools of deniers within the
Republican Party. One insists that there is no climate change, asserting that the
issue has been concocted by “radical environmentalists” out to destroy free
enterprise and the capitalist system. The other party acknowledges that climate
change is taking place, but denies that human activity is responsible.
By contrast, the Democratic Party is a “mainstream party.” Its members and
supporters agree with the scientific consensus that climate change is happening,
is potentially catastrophic for the planet and the human race, and that it is
caused by human activity. However, the Democratic candidates in the current
election have studiously avoided discussing climate change or what mankind,
and the United States, must do to mitigate its effects. President Obama has
expressed strong support for alternative energy, and for policies that wean the
U.S. away from fossil fuels and has called for ending subsidies to the oil
industries and continued government support for wind, solar and other forms of
“green energy.” However, he does not mention climate change as the reason for
these policies, but rather asserts that they are intended to bring about energy
independence and green jobs.
GOP candidates Romney and Ryan have derided “green energy” while expressing
strong support for the American oil and coal industries. Romney has promised
to end all government incentives for alternative energy if elected, while
continuing government subsidies for the oil industry. Romney articulated this
stance in an August 8 speech in the middle of coal country in Ohio. Just one day
after the President strongly supported wind energy in his own speech, Romney
implied that wind energy is essentially useless, saying “you can’t drive a car with
a windmill on it.” (“Romney Attacks Obama Energy Policy in Ohio, USA Today,
August 8, 2012).
Romney’s most egregious remarks concerned coal. Scientists have confirmed
that carbon is the principal pollutant underlying the rapid increase in world
temperatures. Coal releases more carbon into the atmosphere than any other
fuel. Scientists agree that the world cannot avoid climate disaster unless it
phases out coal and replaces it with other less polluting fuels. Despite this,
Romney told the nation that, “His Vice President said coal is more dangerous
than terrorists. Can you imagine that?” Romney was referring to a 2007
interview in which Vice President Biden stated that “hundreds of thousands of
people die, or their lives are shorted by, coal plants.” In his speech, Romney
called for the U.S. to vastly expand its production of carbon-based energy as a
means of gaining energy independence.
Ironically, leading scientists have confirmed that despite the taboo against
discussion of climate change in the U.S., the United States has reported the
lowest output of carbon in 20 years. (“US Carbon Emission Plunge to a 20-year
Low, Associate Press, August 17). The scientists stated that this is the direct
result of the marketplace, attributing the drop to a rapid replacement of coal
with cheap natural gas. Some climate researchers have begun to assert that if
coal is replaced with natural gas world wide, it could slow down the pace of
climate change and buy time to make the switch to zero emission sustainable
energy sources such as solar and wind.
With the U.S. cutting back its carbon emissions, the biggest offenders in the
world will be India and China, which continue to bring new highly-polluting coal
plants online at a rapid clip. Unlike the GOP leadership, political leaders in both
countries do not deny that climate change is a reality and that coal is the biggest
contributor. They view coal as a necessary evil to provide their economies with
the energy required for continued growth. However, China has announced a
massive program to develop natural gas and green energy sources that could
vastly reduce its carbon emissions.
Ryan and Romney’s statements on energy policy reveal an essential
philosophical quandary which both mean must fess up to. They continue to
claim that fossil fuel is the answer and deride Democratic Party efforts to reduce
carbon emissions. They continue to express strong support for the oil and coal
industries. Both Ryan and Romney are educated Americans. The scientific
evidence for manmade climate change is overwhelming. Few educated persons
anywhere in the world are climate change deniers. It is hard to believe that Ryan
and Romney are not well aware of the dangers posed by climate change and the
role of carbon-based fuels in heating up the planet.
Yet, they continue to espouse increased use of carbon-based fuels, while
opposing policies to change our energy sources to those, which do no pollute the
atmosphere. What underlies this position? It is hard to believe that the GOP
candidates are so ignorant. The GOP has accepted billions of dollars in campaign
contributions from the fossil fuel industry.
There are only two possible explanations for the positions of the GOP candidates.
They are either profoundly ignorant or so morally challenged that they are
willing to see the entire planet suffer in exchange for financial and political
support from the powerful fossil fuel lobby. In either case, this makes them unfit
to hold public office.