{"id":27360,"date":"2023-07-14T12:41:49","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T19:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=27360"},"modified":"2023-07-14T12:41:50","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T19:41:50","slug":"biden-stop-ignoring-climate-fueled-extreme-weather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/07\/14\/biden-stop-ignoring-climate-fueled-extreme-weather\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden, Stop Ignoring Climate-Fueled Extreme Weather"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Homes throughout Barre, Vermont were inundated with flash flooding on Monday into the early morning on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, leaving behind thick mud and sediment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo: John Tully for The Washington Post via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a massive blindspot of this administration that the country can be pummeled by weather of biblical plague proportions, and our political leaders aren\u2019t out there calling this what it is.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

HANNAH STORY BROWN<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jul 13, 2023Common Dreams<\/a> (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extreme weather is the story of this summer so far, the hottest in 120,000 years<\/a>. But you wouldn\u2019t know it from following Beltway politics. (Yes, the president\u2019s currently in Lithuania, but there happens to be a climate-fueled drought<\/a> there too.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As science journalist Hannah Waters observed<\/a>, these new extremes we\u2019re experiencing are \u201ca taste of the future. An extreme El Ni\u00f1o summer today is a normal summer later on if we continue to burn fossil energy at unsustainable rates.\u201d And it\u2019s not just a forecast of what\u2019s to come; it\u2019s also evidence of how much the planet has already warmed. \u201cRight now we are experiencing El Ni\u00f1o in a new way: under warmer conditions created by the build-up of fossil fuel gases in the atmosphere,\u201d Waters wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why it\u2019s not just hot; it\u2019s the hottest. That\u2019s why El Paso just set the record for its longest ever heat wave<\/a>, 24 days over 100\u00b0F. That\u2019s why Phoenix is about to break its record for consecutive days over 110\u00b0F<\/a>. That\u2019s why two months worth of rain<\/a> fell on Vermont on Monday. That\u2019s why the temperature of the ocean in Florida is \u201cdownright shocking<\/a>\u201d at 92 to 96\u00b0F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weather is already political, because weather today is increasingly shaped by political choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every catastrophic meteorological event that\u2019s happened over the past few weeks in the United States is not only an important story with real life impacts\u2014people\u2019s lives changing, people\u2019s livelihoods vanishing\u2014it is also intimately connected to climate change in ways that most people aren\u2019t informed about. Weather is already political, because weather today is increasingly shaped by political choices. Even this terrible tick season<\/a> is a climate change story. Even the looming UPS strike<\/a> is a climate change story. (Kudos to Time<\/em> for publishing both those pieces.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Time<\/em> is doing its part, the mainstream media in toto is largely squandering the opportunity and responsibility to educate the public about the connections between extreme weather and climate change, even when the attribution science is definitive. Media Matters found<\/a> that \u201conly 5% of national TV news segments on the record-shattering heatwave that scorched Texas mentioned climate change.\u201d But scientists say it\u2019s safe to assume<\/a> that all<\/em> heatwaves now are made more severe or more likely by climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no reason why the Biden administration should also fail to reliably connect these dots. They have hundreds of capable climate scientists on their payroll! And if the administration decided to wage a public information campaign on climate change, media attention would likely follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Send Surrogates, Pick Fights, Draw Attention<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cA presidential administration committed to both fighting climate change and fascism would have a strategy to respond to meteorological calamities in a political fashion,\u201d our Executive Director Jeff Hauser wrote<\/a> on Twitter. \u201cSend surrogates, pick fights, draw attention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a massive blindspot of this administration that the country can be pummeled by weather of biblical plague proportions, and our political leaders aren\u2019t out there calling this what it is: climate-fueled extreme weather that will only get worse in the coming decades without action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We desperately need leaders who are willing to connect the dots and speak openly about our changing climate in flexible, specific ways. It also happens to be good politics to amplify the political issues that benefit your side when they get more airtime. To the extent that people think about and care about climate change, it will benefit Democrats as a political party. Sending a high-profile surrogate like Kamala Harris into a battleground state like Texas or Arizona could get a figure like Kari Lake or Ted Cruz to argue with them and generate ongoing attention for issues the administration wants raised\u2014while demonstrating the administration\u2019s energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The passivity from the Biden administration when it comes to talking about climate change smells a lot like fear. That\u2019s a pretty damning look for an administration that claims to be the best ever on climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Executive branch leadership could play a much more vocal role in spreading awareness of climate change and how it\u2019s already shaping our lives. President Joe Biden has plenty of high-profile appointees in his administration who could gin up support for the administration\u2019s priorities and accomplishments through connecting them to people\u2019s immediate circumstances.If the FEMA administrator showed up in rainboots in Vermont and talked about extreme rainfall and climate change, it would get attention. Andthe administration\u2019s infrastructure accomplishments would probably benefit from the added urgency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where is Secretary Pete Buttigieg<\/a> talking about investing in climate-resilient public infrastructure in the aftermath of extreme floods shutting down Amtrak routes<\/a> and canceling flights<\/a> in the Northeast? Where is Secretary Jennifer Granholm celebrating how renewable energy saved Texas<\/a> from would-be devastating blackouts during the heatwave? Where are the CDC folks putting out PSAs about wearing masks when the air quality is unhealthy from wildfire smoke? Why isn\u2019t anyone at NOAA going on TV to talk about the horrific coral bleaching<\/a> that NOAA predicts for this summer? Why don\u2019t we even have any attention-grabbing tweets from the National Weather Service about climate-fueled extreme weather?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOAA\u2019s coral bleaching forecast for the Caribbean this summer is absolutely horrific.https:\/\/t.co\/xPU2ombSzO<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/SyNlqBNaHi<\/a><\/p>— Terry Hughes (@ProfTerryHughes) July 10, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>