Today’s Edition: Every Democrat a climate activist.

August 10, 2021

          Urgent issues compete for our attention as we struggle for bandwidth in lives that brim with commitments to family, work, and community. Regardless of how we choose to strike that balance, every Democrat must become a climate activist.  On Monday, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) issued its Sixth Assessment Report. The report contains sobering and alarming warnings regarding the timeline for slowing and reversing damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions. In short, even if we turn on a dime, we are locked into a 30-year cycle of extreme climate variability caused by past emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases. The IPCC panel of experts concludes that if we fail to act immediately, “the outcome will be continued warming and worsening effects for at least the rest of the century.”

          In the face of such dire predictions, some may raise their hands in surrender and ask, “What’s the use of trying?” The answer is that we must start sometime and somewhere. The time is now and the place is here. We can and should reject the bad faith lies and dissembling by Republicans and lobbyists who seek to squeeze the last ounce of profit from fossil fuels as the planet burns. Every voter must demand accountability on the climate crisis from every elected leader at every level. Every voter must condemn every elected leader who claims that “the science is unsettled” or that “the U.S. should not act unilaterally.” Science is never settled with absolute certainty, but the IPCC experts say that their conclusions reflect “high confidence” based on “overwhelming evidence.” And no one is asking the U.S. to act unilaterally; indeed, during the previous four years it lagged behind the rest of the world.

          The challenge of addressing the climate crisis is that it is a sprawling phenomenon that unfolds imperceptibility until it doesn’t, unleashing cataclysms for which we are ill prepared.  Even when once-in-a-millennium events strike with sickening regularity, they compete for attention with attempted coups, pandemic denialism, and the Big Lie. No more. Being a climate activist requires discipline, knowledge, and dedication. We are acting for our children, grandchildren, and generations to come. We have tarried too long as it is.

         The Sixth Assessment Report is a lengthy, detailed, and technical document that is the first in a series of reports to be released over the next two years. Educate yourself about the evidence included in the report and the conclusions of the hundreds of scientists who contributed to the report. A good place to start is with the NYTimes, “5 Takeaways From the U.N. Climate Report.” Per the overview in the Times, the top five takeaways from the Six Assessment are:

• Human influence has unequivocally warmed the planet

• Climate science is getting better and more precise

• We are locked into 30 years of worsening climate impacts no matter what the world does

• Climate changes are happening more rapidly than models predicted

• There is still a window in which humans can alter the climate path

          Where to begin your work as a climate activist? Answer: Anywhere you believe you can influence policy makers. That may be in your existing political efforts or it may require expanding to new spheres of involvement. If you are looking for a place to establish a foothold, a reader has suggested the Take Action page of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Finally, encourage your friends and family to become climate activists as well. Show them you are committed to fighting the climate crisis—use words if necessary. Otherwise, let your actions lead the way forward.

Pandemic Developments.

          In a major policy move, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will ask the president for authority to require all U.S. military personnel to receive a Covid vaccination by late September, or immediately upon FDA approval of a vaccine (expected in the next two months). ABC News, “Pentagon to require COVID vaccines for all service members.” The announcement by the Secretary of Defense comes as warfare has erupted in Texas and Florida over mask mandates in local school districts. Republican Governors Abbott and DeSantis have threatened local school officials with penalties if they require masks in schools despite statewide orders prohibiting mask mandates. See Axios, “DeSantis threatens salaries of superintendents, school board members who support masking.”

          The feuds erupted as the number of school-age children hospitalized by the Delta variant is increasing in states like Florida and Texas.  See NYTimes, “Delta Variant Is Sending More Children to the Hospital.” Apart from their scientific illiteracy and moral depravity, DeSantis and Abbott have picked the wrong battle. When more children become seriously ill (or worse), those governors will be explaining how they prioritized “the freedom to choose” over “the health of our children.” As Marty London explains in his most recent column, the “freedom to choose” to remain unvaccinated is not a freedom that should be recognized in society:

          Most of the unvaccinated [argue that] the issue is “freedom of choice.” Really? I'm willing to concede their freedom to risk suffering from Covid and even to choose to take the risk of dying from it. But I certainly do not concede they have the "freedom" to infect me or my family. I do not concede they have the “freedom to choose” to incubate the next and possibly even more deadly variant, [just as] I do not concede that one has the “freedom to choose” to drive drunk.

         Governors Abbott and DeSantis are gambling with the lives of children to promote their presidential ambitions. A half-dozen readers sent notes today asking if Trump, DeSantis, Abbott, and others could be sued for wrongful death if someone relies on their pandemic denialism and dies. I don’t know if the governors could be held responsible in a court of law, but I am certain that a grieving family will retain a lawyer to test that proposition.

Senate Democrats release sweeping budget reconciliation resolution.

          Senate Democrats have released the text of a sweeping budget reconciliation resolution that is the partner to the smaller bipartisan infrastructure bill likely to be approved by the Senate this week. The text of the proposed resolution is here: Senate.gov, “S. Con. Res. --.” Because the resolution would proceed by way of the budget reconciliation process, it is not subject to the filibuster. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must therefore convince all fifty members of the Democratic Caucus to support the bill. Senators Manchin and Sinema have already expressed reservations about the size of the bill and the funding mechanism.

          The release of the reconciliation resolution coincides with the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. The resolution includes many of the environmental initiatives omitted from the bipartisan infrastructure bill, including a “clean electricity standard, clean energy and vehicle tax credits, a civilian climate corps . . . a goal of reaching 80 percent clean electricity and cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030 . . . polluter import fees, [and will] fund climate smart agriculture, wildfire prevention and forestry as well as federal procurement of clean technologies.” See “Reconciliation package to include several climate priorities left out of bipartisan framework.”

          The resolution also includes changes to Medicare that should be wildly popular (dental and vision care) and free community college for all. The expanded benefits and investments would be paid for by recapturing some of the tax cuts granted to corporations and those individuals earning over $400,000. The reconciliation resolution is Joe Biden’s effort to “swing for the fences.” See Talking Points Memo, “Senate Dems Release Historic, All-Encompassing Budget Resolution.” The bipartisan infrastructure bill was prologue. The reconciliation resolution is the main act. We should know by early fall whether Biden will succeed in his most ambitious effort to date.

Concluding thoughts.

          Seventy-six years ago on August 9th, the United States dropped its second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. It was the last time a nuclear bomb was used in armed conflict. Let’s hope that it always remains so.

          Climate scientists have been sounding the alarm on man-made climate change for more than six decades. When those warnings were first made, the science was unsettled because the models were rudimentary. As the Sixth Assessment Report notes, climate models have become increasingly sophisticated, and the science is now settled. But in the intervening six decades, we have passed a threshold, though not a tipping point. Yes, it will take decades to slow and reverse the damage inflicted over the last sixty years, but the damage is not irreversible. There is still time to act. That is the good news. But it is up to us to compel our elected officials to make fighting the climate crisis a priority among competing priorities. Joe Biden is headed in the right direction with the programs included in the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation resolution. We should do all we can to ensure passage of both. Let’s start there. We can do that.

          Talk to you tomorrow!