To be honest, I could care less about Ted Cruz's little getaway to Cancun. At this point, if you still need proof that the guy's tone deaf, you haven't been paying attention. His entire political career is a case study in tone deafness. Indeed, the scandal here isn't Jimmy Buffet scampering off to a warmer climate while his constituents froze their butts off - God knows he's not the first politician to go AWOL when duty called. No, the real scandal is how one of the most populous states in the country left millions of its citizens in the dark and without safe drinking water in the middle of the worst winter storms in over a century.
For those who don't know, there are three power grids in the United Staes: one in the east, one in the west, and one in Texas. The first two have sharing agreements between the member states to ensure that the disaster we witnessed last week never happens. The last one apparently thinks it's the 19th century. Boy, when they say lone star in Texas, they ain't kidding.
But while Texas' officials have a lot of explaining to do over the next few weeks - read Paul Krugman's op-ed in The New York Times for his take on the limits of deregulation - the 800 pound gorilla in the room that must be dealt with is the same one that has brought so much of the country to its knees for years.
From the raging forest fires that have consumed countless square miles of habitable land, to the prolonged droughts that have devastated farmers, to the increase in tornado activity that destroys whole communities, to the growing intensity of nor'easters that cause flooding of low-lying areas, to the growing incidences of polar vortexes that plunge most of the country into a deep freeze, to the unpredictable nature of hurricanes that develop in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic basin, climate change is THE number one existential threat to the planet. Ignoring it is no longer an option.
The question isn't whether we deal with it but how we deal with it. It wasn't that long ago that entitlement reform was the third rail of American politics. To even touch it meant instant death to a politician. Now climate change has supplanted entitlement reform as the number one boogie man in politics. For Democrats in particular, it, along with defund the police, has become an albatross around their necks. Every time they put forth even a modest proposal they are labeled anti-business and anti-worker. And while paralysis grips Washington, the planet cooks and we suffer.
Contrary to popular opinion, there is a way that Democrats can frame the climate change debate to their advantage; one that boxes in Republicans and gains support from a majority of Americans. And that way involves borrowing a page from the Republican playbook.
I have long believed that for all the high-sounding words on the subject, the reason we've seen no real progress on fighting climate change is that no one has made the right argument. Politicians on the left often talk about our responsibility to the planet and to our children. While that may be laudable, as they used to say in New York, that and a subway token will get you a ride on the 7th Avenue Express. People by nature are not altruistic; their selfish and self centered. Everything revolves around their wallets. How much is this going to cost me? Will my taxes go up? Will I lose my job? If you cannot make a cogent economic argument about climate change that hits people where they live, you're not going to be successful no matter how much data you present to them. The Atlantic ocean could be right outside their front door and they'd still be bitching about the 30 cent rise in gas prices at the pump.
So here's how you win them over. Stop talking about rising temperatures and sea levels, and start talking about rising costs. For instance, in 2017, the American taxpayer shelled out $306 billion in damages for the worst hurricane season in over a decade, breaking the old record of $215 billion set in 2005. Harvey alone accounted for $125 billion. It dumped over 60 inches of rain in the Houston area, turning roads into rivers, making it the third hundred year flood to hit the city in the last three years. Three years, three hundred year floods. Think about it. How many homeowners lost everything in that hurricane and are still waiting to be made whole?
The drought of 2012-13 affected 81 percent of the United States. 1,692 counties across 36 states were declared natural disaster areas. In California, the drought was so severe that many lakes dried up and the mouths of some rivers were blocked by sand bars. The cost to the economy was estimated at $150 billion. That cost was passed on to consumers in the form of higher food prices.
No one was more of a friend to coal than Donald Trump. And yet, despite slashing regulation after regulation, when he left office, there were just over 45,000 full-time coal miners. In 2012, that number was 90,000. While the coal industry continues to hemorrhage jobs, the renewable energy sector is exploding. As of 2018, it employed more than 750,000 workers. Overall, there are more than 2.2 million energy efficient workers in the U.S. Most of those jobs pay an average of $65,000 per year.
Imagine a slew of renewable energy and electric car plants in West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan and western Pennsylvania offering good-paying jobs with full benefits to people who've been forced to work two or three jobs just to make ends meet. Imagine utility bills cut in half thanks to solar panels and wind farms.
This is how you win the battle on climate change; this is how you bring people around. Not by showing them charts and graphs, but by impacting their bottom line in a positive way. In the long run, money talks and bullshit walks. If you want people to buy into green energy, you have to make it worth their while. We are creatures of habit, and old habits die hard.
The simple fact is that Republicans have been using scare tactics for years to convince voters that climate change is nothing but a giant hoax, not because they actually believe it, but because it keeps them and their cronies in the fossil fuel industry in power. And while they lie their asses off, global temperatures continue to rise and people's lives are put at risk. The best way to defeat those lies is by telling people the truth. Renewable energy is the future. It will create millions of high-paying jobs and transform the economy.
Oh, and it will save the planet. That too.
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