In recent years, topics such as global warming, climate change and pollution have been heavily discussed. And for some reason, they are heavily controversial as well.
When it comes to these topics, it seems as though conservatives are quick to deny and ignore them. A study once showed that over 58% of conservatives do not accept climate change. That’s not a surprise since several do not believe in global warming to begin with. It also does not help that many Republican politicians seem very unlikely to help against the fight with global warming.
So far, 2017 has already had some extreme cases of climate change within its four months. This years March and February were the second hottest March and February in 137 years. Sea ice in Arctic and Antarctic conditions appear to have reached record low extents. Not to mention that there have been record heat waves all around the world in countries such as the United States and Australia.
So, with all of this evidence, why do so many republicans still choose not to see it?
It is because they believe that the long-term effects of protecting the environment and Earth matter less than the short-term effects of profit, industry growth, and using the resources in our environment for economic gain.
Take Trump’s promise to revive the coal industry, despite the industry dying. Burning coal for our heat and energy needs have helped contribute to global warming. This has lead to coal being the greatest threat to our climate. Many countries have realized this and turned to natural energy to fuel their needs. Even the previous U.S. president, Barack Obama, put the “Clean Power Plan,” in place to combat against global warming. Yet, Trump was elected under the promise of bringing more jobs into the coal industry and stopping the plan. America has sadly elected a president that doesn’t care at all about the future of our Earth. He has even tweeted absurd things (what a surprise) such as:
This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bullshit has got to stop. Our planet is freezing, record low temps,and our GW scientists are stuck in ice
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2014
Donald Trump has also gone on to defund the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and has ordered an executive order to review all designations of national monuments greater than 100,000 acres, which will severely affect anywhere from 2o to 40 national monuments. Under Trump’s administration and the loyalty of his supporters, our environment is in jeopardy.
The topic of climate change has gotten so intense that scientists had to actually create a march to get their voices heard on this issue. Let me clarify this: people who are actually educated and aware of the problems of climate change have to fight to get our government to realize the dangers of global warming.
Democrats have been known fighters against climate change. While they aren’t perfect, they still have tried to pass bills to help and get people educated about climate change. Many of them see that climate change is a real danger to our society and we need to make changes. Unfortunately, many republicans only see these as aggressive and radical attempts from liberals.
Overall, it is terrible that only one side of the government seems to care about the environment and they just happen to be losing the battle. We have a president that doesn’t care about climate change or the environment, but cares about how many views his inauguration got. Scientist have been defunded and need to protest to have their voices heard.
If we (mainly conservatives) keep up this mentality up and ignore the consequences of climate change, it will only be a matter of time before global warming will win the battle against our planet and our society will be no more.
