{"id":9949,"date":"2018-10-13T11:13:38","date_gmt":"2018-10-13T18:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=9949"},"modified":"2018-10-13T11:38:52","modified_gmt":"2018-10-13T18:38:52","slug":"victims-of-hurricane-michael-voted-for-climate-deniers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/10\/13\/victims-of-hurricane-michael-voted-for-climate-deniers\/","title":{"rendered":"VICTIMS OF HURRICANE MICHAEL VOTED FOR CLIMATE DENIERS"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRI, 10\/12\/2018 – BY\u00a0JOHN ABRAHAM<\/a>\u00a0(Occupy.com)<\/p>\n

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THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON\u00a0THE GUARDIAN<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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An American flag battered by Hurricane Michael continues to fly in the in the purple colored light of sunset at Shell Point Beach on October 10, 2018 in Crawfordville, Florida. Photograph: Mark Wallheiser\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n

Floridians are staring down a very powerful Category 4 typhoon that is causing extensive damage. The high winds, heavy rains, and storm surge will cost billions of dollars.<\/p>\n

We know that climate change is making these storms stronger. The storms feed off of warm ocean waters, and those waters are much warmer now because of climate change. I have written about the science in more detail\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0here<\/a>. But basically, Michael strengthened because it passed over really warm waters. Waters that were hotter because of human-caused warming.<\/p>\n

Predictably, the hurricane strengthened as it hit shore. As I write this, Michael is coming ashore and the pressure is still falling (low pressures in a hurricane signify a stronger storm). It appears that Michael may have the third-lowest pressure for a hurricane hitting the USA.<\/p>\n

It is a wonder that a state like Florida, which will get pummeled by Michael, could vote for someone that denies climate change. Think of how backwards the situation is \u2013 the Florida Department of Environmental Protection\u00a0has reportedly been banned<\/a>\u00a0from using the terms \u201cclimate change\u201d and \u201cglobal warming\u201d. This policy reportedly went into effect when Florida elected a science denier, Rick Scott, to governor.<\/p>\n

Rick Scott\u00a0has been condemned<\/a>\u00a0by people in Florida for his backward stance. It is climate denial like his that has contributed to the suffering of residents in the state.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that my colleagues haven\u2019t tried to help Governor Scott understand how his policies hurt his state. A few years ago, scientists\u00a0met with him<\/a>\u00a0and urged him to take climate change seriously. He remained silent.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t that the local media hasn\u2019t tried. Major newspapers\u00a0have called upon<\/a>\u00a0Rick Scott to take action on climate change. But to little avail. Maybe it\u2019s because Rick Scott\u00a0invests in companies<\/a>\u00a0that oppose climate change regulations?<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t that his political opponents haven\u2019t tried. Recently, Florida Democrats\u00a0petitioned<\/a>\u00a0Rick Scott to acknowledge climate change.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, while Rick Scott is now running for Senate, he\u2019s being challenged by Democrat Bill Nelson. He understands science and believes in facts.\u00a0Nelson writes<\/a>, “Climate change is real, and we must take action to protect ourselves. Denial of this scientific reality is simply not an option, especially in Florida.”<\/p>\n

Rick Scott isn\u2019t the only politician from the state of Florida to reject science and diminish climate change. Senator Marco Rubio\u00a0has as well<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"climate<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Florida voters could put an end to this nonsense. In the current race for state Governor to succeed Scott, Republican candidate Ron DeSantis is ignoring science. He\u00a0recently claimed<\/a>\u00a0that climate change is not an issue for states to mitigate. Say what?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s hope Ron DeSantis loses. His opponent is Andrew Gillum, who is clear as day when he says, “Climate change is real, it is impacting Floridians directly, and we will not be silenced on the matter. When I\u2019m Governor, we will not just talk about climate change \u2014 we will put Floridians to work to make our state more energy independent and resilient and transform our state into the Solar Capital of the United States!”<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just Florida; there are other states getting hit by Hurricane Michael that are also led by climate deniers. For instance, Georgia will be hit by Hurricane Michael. One of the senators there, David Perdue,\u00a0congratulated<\/a>\u00a0President Trump when he pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord. Georgia\u2019s other Senator, Johnny Isakson also denies the science. He too supported President Trump\u2019s reckless actions.<\/p>\n

At the congressional district level, the denial continues. Republican Representative Barry Loudermilk\u00a0was pleased<\/a>\u00a0when President Trump walked away from the Paris Agreement. His opponent, Flynn Broady trusts and understands science, however. His position could not be any clearer as\u00a0he writes<\/a>,<\/p>\n

“We have the technology and knowledge to develop and place into practice renewable energy sources, reduce carbon emissions, and move our energy needs away from carbon fuels. We owe it to the world to participate in the Paris Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol. As the leading industrial nation we must lead the effort.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Climate deniers will try to say this article is gleeful about a hurricane. It is not. First of all, this hurricane and all hurricanes that hit land can cause death and destruction. I pray that people heed warnings and get out of the way. I hope people stay safe, regardless of their understanding of climate change and its effect on storms.<\/p>\n

Second, elections have consequences and if we as a society want to create a better world and reduce climate change, we have to vote for people who understand science, who believe in facts. Climate deniers are making these storms worse by stopping action on climate change. What the hell do we expect to happen when the deniers are writing the laws?<\/p>\n

Third, for those who say \u201ctaking action on climate is too expensive\u201d, how about you add up the worldwide costs of climate inaction over the past decade. My response to you is, it\u2019s\u00a0too costly<\/a>\u00a0to do nothing.<\/p>\n

Fourth,\u00a0what the hell happened<\/a>\u00a0to the Republican Party? The GOP formerly thought of itself as the party of intellectuals. How did you become a party where\u00a0denying science<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0a litmus test<\/a>? Where are the Republicans who actually understand climate change and care about it? If you can find one, tell me. Maybe I\u2019ll even write about them on this site.<\/p>\n

Finally, climate change is only starting. It will continue to get worse and worse. And that means storms will get worse, droughts will get deeper, flooding more severe, and the costs will go up. What we are seeing now and what we\u2019ve seen over the past decade is just a small taste to come of what the future will bring if we don\u2019t take this problem seriously.<\/p>\n

Good luck Florida and Georgia. My thoughts are with you. See you on the other side.<\/p>\n

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\"Water<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Infrared<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Originally published by The Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FRI, 10\/12\/2018 – BY\u00a0JOHN ABRAHAM\u00a0(Occupy.com) THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON\u00a0THE GUARDIAN An American flag battered by Hurricane Michael continues to fly in the in the purple colored light of sunset at Shell Point Beach on October 10, 2018 in Crawfordville, Florida. Photograph: Mark Wallheiser\/Getty Images Floridians are staring down a… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9949"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9949"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9952,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9949\/revisions\/9952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}