I remember it well. I was sitting in a lawn chair in my Michigan front yard, sunglasses on, in a tank top and rocking a pair of jorts. I raised my fist toward the warm Michigan sky and screamed, “There is no such thing as global warming, you leftist communist bastards!” By the time I went inside I had a sunburn. The date? Feb. 27, 2024.
Look, I’m kidding. About everything but the jorts. Global warming, climate change, impending doom, whatever you want to call it. It’s real.
I’ve heard people say that Michigan will be a climate haven of sorts when Hell and high water inevitably come. After all, we are surrounded by fresh water. And guess what you can’t live without? That’s right. Water. This, of course, means that Michigan has absolutely no responsibility to take any measures to mitigate climate change.
Look at me, kidding again. There isn’t anywhere on earth that isn’t going to be hurt in some way by climate change. It’s true that in Michigan we’re incredibly lucky due to that aforementioned fresh water. But if we actually want to keep that water fresh and keep our water supply throughout the state functional and uncontaminated, we have to take action.
Which is what Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Democratic majority in the Michigan legislature has on their agenda. We’ve had decades of neglect at the hands of a Republican majority and we’re finally in a position to do something.
And, unsurprisingly, Republicans are pissed about it. State Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, is very upset about the prospect of moving toward renewable energy, mostly because it will cost money but also because he’s happy with the way we’ve been doing things. “If coal is good enough for Santa Claus, it’s good enough for us!” he did not say. But, still, he loves himself some dirty energy.
Tisdel says people will leave the state if their energy costs go up. And, yeah, nobody likes it when their bills go up. And if that happens maybe some people will leave for, I don’t know, Arizona. But you know what else causes population loss? Doing nothing about climate change. Young people are paying attention to this issue. They will not want to stay and raise a family in a state that thumbs its nose at climate change.
Another thing that causes population loss is when people die in tornadoes and extreme heat, two things we’re seeing more and more thanks to climate change. I’m not trying to be alarmist, but yes, I am.
Make no mistake, if Democrats lose their majority in Michigan, we will once again be a state with climate change deniers calling the shots. And that would be bad, to say the least.
The truth is, a lot of people on the right know that they are wrong on the issue of climate change. But they don’t exactly advertise that fact.
“This is far more common on the right these days: just not bringing up climate change at all, spending far more time talking about whatever the latest ‘cancel culture’ flap is instead,” writes Nathan J. Robinson in his 2023 book Responding to the Right: Brief Replies to 25 Conservative Arguments. “It’s understandable that conservatives don’t really want a major public debate about what to do about climate change, because so few people with any expertise on the subject sympathize with the right-wing approach.”
In other words, there is no divide among scientists and climate experts. The vast majority of them know that climate change is real and that it is dangerous. They know that it is beyond irresponsible to just stick our heads in the sand. Especially because that sand is probably as hot as the surface of the sun at this point.
Disgraced former President Trump, however, is a hardcore climate change denier and has been for quite some time. You’ll remember that in a 2012 Tweet he wrote, "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive."
This is, of course, not true, but there are plenty of people who believe this or something akin to it. And I really wish that one of these people wasn’t the Republican nominee for president. Again.
Trump hasn’t backed down from his denial and he tends to frame the issue as The Economy v The Environment, as many conservatives do.
And yet, according to Politico, “Trump has repeatedly called for the elimination of the clean energy tax credits contained in the Inflation Reduction Act that are contributing to major green job booms around the country, including in Republican-held districts.”
Well, well, well. What do you know? Green jobs not only exist, but if we actually try to stem the tide of climate change there are jobs in that sector!
That’s not how Trump sees it, however. Politico reported that after Trump said he’d nix electric vehicle incentives he said, “You can be loyal to American labor, or you can be loyal to the environmental lunatics.”
Never mind the fact that Trump and the Republican Party are hardly “loyal” to labor. The fact is, ignoring climate change and the increasingly frequent extreme weather events happening as a result is not only bad for the earth, it’s bad for the economy! Things like tornados, hurricanes, and wildfires cause billions of dollars in damage in addition to untold human suffering due to deaths, injuries, and houses blown or burned to the ground. Critical infrastructure is destroyed in the wake of these disasters – infrastructure that many businesses can’t function without like roads and water supplies.
Major industries like tourism and farming can’t withstand rising temperatures. Good luck trying to grow corn or attending an outdoor festival in 170 degree heat!
Seriously and immediately addressing climate change is not only crucial, but it benefits everyone. Anyone trying to say otherwise is not arguing in good faith.
Unfortunately, that’s the majority of Republicans. Yet another good reason not to vote for them.
If you’re part of the majority when it comes to climate change and you’re frustrated by a lack of action on behalf of your local, state, or federal government, there is something that you can do about it: run for office. Nothing will change if the people at the policy making table don’t take meaningful action. The Guerrilla Politic would love to talk to you about getting yourself a seat at that table.