For the past century, we have watched climate deniers shift the goalposts. First, climate change does not exist. Next, climate change is real, but not caused by humans. Now, deniers say there's nothing we can do, solutions are too expensive, or that it's not as big of a threat as people are making it seem.
Climate change has already been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, yet many with the wealth and power to make a difference choose not to act, because change is uncomfortable. In addition, many Republican officeholders receive campaign contributions from major oil and gas companies.
There is no longer an excuse for denying climate change. The politicians who still call it a hoax deserve to be ostracized and called out for their inaction. We must show them the graphs (for many, facts do matter) that show an increase in average global temperature since human manufacturing and ask them: Do you want safe drinking water and air you can breathe in? Do you have empathy to care about those beyond your lifespan? Do you want to pass down the Earth gracefully for future generations? Can't we do more green jobs instead of polluting ones?
While convincing skeptics may be an impossible task, as some are willfully ignorant or corrupt, there is still hope for the rest of us. Our elected leaders must take bolder steps to mobilize those already on board, in the US and abroad, and aggressively pass policies to limit the world's top emitters. The future of our planet depends on it.
Robert Weiner was a spokesman for the Clinton and Bush White Houses, the House Government Operations Committee under Chairman Rep. John Conyers, and senior staff for U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, Rep. Claude Pepper, Rep. Ed Koch and Sen. Ted Kennedy. Charlyn Chu is a policy analyst at Robert Weiner Associates and Solutions for Change.
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