Unum
2024-08-18 16:02:37 UTC
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/climate-deniers-in-office
Despite the indisputable scientific evidence, as well as easily observable
proof, many political representatives are still denying the crisis exists or
that it’s serious enough to require action
A study by the Center for American Progress found that climate science deniers
make up almost one- quarter of the United States Congress—100 in the House of
Representatives and 23 in the Senate! The somewhat good news is that those
numbers are going down, from 150 in the 116th Congress to 139 in the 117th to
123 today.
“The report defined climate deniers as those who say that the climate crisis
is not real or not primarily caused by humans, or claim that climate science
is not settled, that extreme weather is not caused by global warming or that
planet-warming pollution is beneficial,” The Guardian reports. Many are
parroting thoroughly debunked information.
The report also found that the fossil fuel industry has given these elected
officials more than $52 million in campaign donations.
Noting that 2023 was the hottest year on record, with July hitting “the
highest average global temperatures ever recorded” and the U.S. experiencing,
“on average, a billion-dollar extreme weather event every three weeks,” the
report states, “Americans cannot afford to ignore the realities of global
climate change. Climate-fueled extreme weather events continue to cost
American lives and billions of dollars year after year, and the intensity and
frequency of these events will continue to increase without action to address
the causes of climate change.”
Despite the indisputable scientific evidence, as well as easily observable
proof, many political representatives are still denying the crisis exists or
that it’s serious enough to require action
A study by the Center for American Progress found that climate science deniers
make up almost one- quarter of the United States Congress—100 in the House of
Representatives and 23 in the Senate! The somewhat good news is that those
numbers are going down, from 150 in the 116th Congress to 139 in the 117th to
123 today.
“The report defined climate deniers as those who say that the climate crisis
is not real or not primarily caused by humans, or claim that climate science
is not settled, that extreme weather is not caused by global warming or that
planet-warming pollution is beneficial,” The Guardian reports. Many are
parroting thoroughly debunked information.
The report also found that the fossil fuel industry has given these elected
officials more than $52 million in campaign donations.
Noting that 2023 was the hottest year on record, with July hitting “the
highest average global temperatures ever recorded” and the U.S. experiencing,
“on average, a billion-dollar extreme weather event every three weeks,” the
report states, “Americans cannot afford to ignore the realities of global
climate change. Climate-fueled extreme weather events continue to cost
American lives and billions of dollars year after year, and the intensity and
frequency of these events will continue to increase without action to address
the causes of climate change.”