Climate Change Knows No Borders

Photo: NRDC

Climate change is real and threatens the entire planet.  With Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress, at the very least partisan legislation needs to be passed to combat climate change.  When Republicans are in charge of Congress, funding for the military along with tax-cuts for the rich automatically kick in.  No questions are asked.   

That is not the case currently with Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress.  Republicans are questioning every piece of legislation being proposed through the lens of a partisan vernacular.  A heightened sense of authority is being taken by the Republican party after the spending spree by former President Donald Trump.  

Reporting by Politico Energy has shed light on this hawkish perspective by the Republican party in Congress lately:

DIPLOMATIC FUNDING FOR CLIMATE: A group of congressional Democrats is pushing for a major cash injection into the U.S. international affairs budget to tackle a number of national security priorities, including climate change. Sens. Chris Murphy and Chris Van Hollen, along with Reps. Ami Bera and David Cicilline, are angling to increase funding that covers the State Department and USAID to $68.7 billion from $56.6 billion. “Time is running out. We need to harness the Green Climate Fund to help poorer countries invest in climate solutions, and with reforms to ensure it is well-managed and effective, it is the best positioned to drive climate action overseas and leverage additional dollars from other partner governments,” the lawmakers wrote in their plan. POLITICO’s Nahal Toosi has more.

I find the change in perspective by the Republican party in Congress interesting given that the world is immersed in a global pandemic.  Not to mention that former President Trump held back funding for the public due to his childish anger associated with not being re-elected in last year's election.

This is all happening with the back-drop of American's suffering from a growing backlog of mortgage payments.  Debt is piling up.  As mortgages are coming due from the Trump administration, people will continue to increase their debt and suffer greatly.  Just today, the New York Times ran an article talking about landlords in low-economic areas showing a greater percentage of court-evictions popping up.  What will happen to those Americans?  What are we to do as a nation?

On a greater level, climate change is a growing threat.  On a global level, climate change is posing a serious threat.  National security is tied directly to climate change.  Reports have surfaced over the last few years stating that fact.  Democrats have started to devote spending to address the growing threat.  What is disappointing is that Republicans are blocking such spending.  Why?

Again, the blog post has a rambling tone to it.  But spending far and near on climate change is a growing threat.  On a national level, economic harm at the local level with debt rising is a great threat too.  Congress needs to address all of these facets simultaneously.  And action needs to happen quickly.

Climate change is creeping into every conversation at every level.  When is the nation going to take this threat seriously?

Let's take action now.