Thom Hartmann's State of the Union

While lawmakers in Washington were still arguing over settled-science, 2014 was the warmest year in known human history on the planet.

This must be the year that we introduce a carbon tax that puts a price on the carbon that's polluting our skies and driving climate change.

New research suggests that if we want to have any hope of preventing catastrophic climate change, then we have to leave nearly all of the world's fossil fuel reserves buried underground. It's that simple.

By introducing a carbon tax, renewable energies will instantly become less expensive than dirty fossil fuels. In other words, it won't be cost-efficient for Big Oil to take fossil fuels out of the ground.

Creating a carbon tax will be a great first step to ensuring the future of our planet and of the human race.

But none of this, from rebuilding our infrastructure and putting Americans back to work to fighting for the future of our planet, will be possible if we don't protect US lives.

We need to continue making investments in our health-care system, so that all Americans have access to affordable and life-saving health care.

Being able to go to the doctor's office when you're sick and being able to get a potentially life-saving prescription shouldn't be luxuries.

Despite what Republicans may argue, Obamacare is working, and millions of Americans are getting access to health care that they've never had before.

We need to build on this progress, not roll it back.

So, my fellow Americans, that's the state of our union.

We are not broke, we are the richest nation in the world.

We don't have a deficit or a spending problem, we have a jobs problem and a trade deficit from our crazy trade policies.

And we must not continue to let Reaganomics turn us into a Third World nation.

We should rebuild and update our critical infrastructures, and ensure that all Americans have an equal chance at living the "American Dream."

And, in the process, we can save ourselves from extinction.

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