Climate change inaction means a lifetime of cruel summers | Editorial

April may be the cruelest month, but July 2023 was the hottest one on record.

One analysis found 81% of the world’s population suffered extreme heat last month, underscoring the impact of climate change everywhere all at once. While the Philadelphia region enjoyed a few comfortable days last week, the summer has been steamier than normal.

The extreme heat is ubiquitous. Phoenix became the first major city in America to average more than 100 degrees for the month, as temperatures topped 110 degrees 30 times. Even Alaska set records for heat this year, reaching 90 degrees in Fairbanks; the average temperature there in July is 72 degrees. Meanwhile, ocean temperatures in parts of Florida topped 100 degrees, creating catastrophic consequences for marine life and helping fuel destructive hurricanes.

It’s not just the heat. This summer’s extreme weather included smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketing Philadelphia and other cities; droughts and water shortages out West as the Colorado River dries up; heavy rains and flash floods in the Northeast causing death and destruction — including five lives lost in Bucks County — and dozens of deadly tornadoes in the South.

So how are lawmakers responding to this growing threat to humanity?

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President Joe Biden rightly called climate change an “existential threat” during a video conference with mayors last month, adding that heat is the “number one weather-related killer” in the United States.

“I don’t think anybody can deny the impact of climate change anymore,” Biden said.

Apparently, Biden forgot about his climate-denying Republican colleagues in Washington. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas called the connection of recent heat waves to climate change “hubris.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said, “I was always taught that climate isn’t the same thing as weather.” Meanwhile, Rep. John Curtis, a Utah Republican who chairs the Conservative Climate Solutions Caucus, said, “I hope we would not be swayed by the news of the moment.”

Memo to Rep. Curtis: Scientists began warning about man-made climate change in the late 1950s, before the 63-year-old Curtis was born. Those alarms have become more dire in recent years, as scientists warn that time is running out to slow or reverse the growth in greenhouse gasses. Despite what many Republican lawmakers say, 99% of scientists agree that climate change is real.

Of course, one hot summer is not evidence enough of climate change. But the extreme weather events underscore what scientific studies have found.

The entire planet is at risk. Heat in India topped 110 degrees and caused at least 200 deaths. Record heat waves in China forced the country to open air raid shelters to provide residents relief from the heat.

Wildfires in Greece forced more than 20,000 tourists and residents to flee, raising alarm that the country’s tourism economy may collapse. Temperatures soared above 100 degrees in Italy, Spain, and France, as the World Meteorological Organization warned that Europe was warming twice as fast as other continents.

More upheaval looms. The United Nations just added Venice, Italy, the city of canals, to its list of endangered cities. Meanwhile, Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, is turning to dust as rivers run dry and residents move away.

It’s exhausting to waste precious time having such a pointless debate around settled science. The real problem is the fossil fuel industry and political donors such as the Koch brothers, who spread disinformation and have bought off mainly Republicans for decades, preventing policy action to reduce carbon emissions.

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More recently, Republican opposition to saving the environment is an outgrowth of the GOP culture war. (See pickup trucks and hysteria surrounding gas stoves.)

But Republican lawmakers are out of step with the country. Two-thirds of Americans — including more than half of Republicans — support efforts to combat climate change. Not to mention, clean energy is creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs, including in Pennsylvania.

No Republicans voted for Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which earmarked billions for clean energy and sparked private investment and the creation of 100,000 jobs in just six months.

While many red states have benefited from the measure, Republican lawmakers have stripped billions in funding from the bill since taking control of the House. Meanwhile, a number of states have steered $750 million in infrastructure funds earmarked for climate programs to other projects.

As extreme weather becomes routine, the urgency needed to combat climate change will not happen until voters hold elected officials accountable.