Intense storms are in the forecast — and climate change is on the ballot | Editorial

Twisters, the recently released sequel to the 1996 film Twister, has been criticized by some for missing an opportunity to mention the important role global warming is playing in the increased frequency and intensity of killer tornadoes like those depicted in the movie. But fictional storm chasers aren’t the ones seeming to ignore climate change.

While a political curveball has led to the replacement of Joe Biden as a main character in the presidential campaign, the remaining protagonists in that drama have been strangely quiet about reducing the destructive impact of global warming.

The relative silence of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump shows how much has changed since the last race for the White House, when candidates were often pressed to state their positions on the Green New Deal. That resolution never made it out of the Senate but remains a manifesto for activists seeking public policy changes that tie environmental protection to economic justice.

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Biden paid homage to the Green New Deal with his Build Back Better plan, which he called “the largest effort to combat climate change in American history.” The $3.5 trillion proposal included rebates for consumers switching to clean energy utilities, and tax incentives for manufacturers of wind turbines, solar panels, and electric cars.

All of which sounds good unless you’re Joe Manchin, the senator from a coal mining state, West Virginia, who also happens to own a scrap coal company that has earned him millions of dollars since he founded it in 1988. Manchin claimed Build Back Better cost too much money but continued to oppose it even when its price tag was reduced to $2.2 trillion.

Lacking the Democrat’s vote doomed the bill, which Republican senators refused to support. That was in 2021. Since then, climate change continues to contribute to major wildfires, droughts, tornadoes, and floods across the United States. Just last month, Hurricane Beryl, which forecasters predicted would be downgraded to a tropical storm before it reached Texas, instead remained a Category 1 hurricane, and in its wake left 36 people dead in the Lone Star State.

Climate scientists said Beryl, which also devastated several Caribbean islands, was the most powerful hurricane ever recorded so early in the Atlantic hurricane season. “In terms of the science, it’s, unfortunately, kind of right in line with what we expect when we’re warming the planet and we’re warming our oceans,” said Andra Garner, an assistant professor of environmental science at Rowan University.

Maybe the candidates aren’t saying much about global warming because Trump’s record speaks for itself. During his presidency, he rolled back environmental regulations, approved major oil pipelines, and pulled the United States out of the Paris climate accord, which made our nation the first to exit the 2015 global agreement to limit the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

Biden resumed U.S. participation in the accord’s program that sets individual emissions targets for each participating nation, but Trump says if he’s reelected, he will ditch the Paris accords again. Taking that step is included in the Project 2025 public policy blueprint written by the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, though Trump continues to disavow any knowledge of that document.

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The Republican nominee was asked about climate change during his June 27 debate with Biden, but, as usual, instead of answering the actual question, he went into a duplicitous monologue suggesting that he, in fact, was an environmentalist. “I want absolutely immaculate, clean water. I want absolutely clean air. And we had it. We had H2O,” he said. “During my four years, I had the best environmental numbers ever.”

The likelihood of a Harris-Trump debate is becoming more remote as the November election approaches. But Harris can put pressure on Trump to talk about climate change and other issues he might prefer to ignore by making sure her positions aren’t assumed just because she is a Democrat. Especially when her opponent seems to be dodging an issue, she should speak out to make sure voters know exactly where she stands on that topic.

In contrast, his silence will speak volumes.

Global warming needs to get more attention. Voters need to understand the connection between climate change and 36 people dying in Texas because a hurricane was much more intense than predicted. They need to know how abandoning the Paris climate accords a second time will lead to more killer storms. What voters don’t need is platitudes about clean water and air. They need to know how the candidates will specifically achieve those goals.