Voters Say Climate Change Is Making Weather More Extreme (& Want Workers Protected)

 

The charts above are from the Data For Progress Poll -- done between July 2nd and 5th of a nationwide sample of 1,164 likely voters, with a 3 point margin of error.

The Trump Administration Is Making Weather Disasters Worse

As I write this the tragedy of the flooding in Kerr County (Texas) continues to get worse. At least 109 people were killed by the flash flooding and another 160 or so are still missing. The final death toll is going to be unbelievably horrific.

Donald Trump seemed to shrug it off, saying it was one of those once in a century events. That's reminiscent of Jone Ernst's statement that everyone is going to die. Or the thoughts and prayers the GOP offer because nothing can be done about gun violence. 

Maybe 20 or 30 years ago this would have been a once in a century event, but not today. Today, we seem to be experiencing these weather disaster far more often - and we know why. Our climate is changing. And we know the reason why it is changing - because to the massive overuse of fossil fuels.

As the chart above shows, the American people understand this, even if the Republicans in our federal government won't admit it. About 84% understand that climate change is due wholly or at least partially to human action. And about 55% know the government is not doing enough to solve the problem.

In fact, the Trump administration is actively trying to make the situation worse. He withdrew us from the Paris Climate Accords and is pushing for more oil and gas drilling. The bill just passed and signed into law would not only give subsidies for Big Oil, but would open government lands for more drilling. It also cuts funding and tax breaks for renewable energy and electric vehicles. These measures will make sure this nation (which is the leaders in fossil fuel burning) will not make any progress on solving the global climate change problem.

It gets even worse. While making climate change worse, the government is also stymying efforts to warn citizens of the increasing weather disasters it causes. Thanks to the DOGE cuts, the Weather Service is critically understaffed across the nation. The San Angelo and San Antonio government weather service (the closest to the Kerr County flooding disaster) were only staffed at 50% of pre-DOGE levels. And the position that was designed to make sure weather warnings actually reached the people needing them was not filled (thanks to the person in it being retired early by DOGE).

The Republicans are wrong when they say lives can't be saved and nothing can be done. We would save lives by fully and adequately addressing global climate change. We would save lives by fully funding the government weather service. And we would save lives by helping communities afford necessary rely warning systems. And we would save lives by restoring the cuts made to Medicaid and the ACA>

Trump and his GOP cohorts are so worried about cutting government that they are ignoring the good things that government can and must do for citizens - especially when it involves saving lives.

The DOGE Cuts Have Made Weather Disasters More Dangerous

 

Where Is The Room Where They Control The Weather? (SATIRE)

 

Alexandra Petri's latest bit of satire (in The Washington Post) pokes fun at the Republicans who believe our government is controlling the weather to punish them.

of course you know that weather control is one of government’s primary functions

we just have to find the room where it is happening and stop them. this is what i am always saying

any time things get bad

but yes there is a room i’m almost certain of it

there is a whole department of weather charged with inflicting weather on —

not even the president’s enemies, exactly, just people

it has to seem random, you see

it has to seem like the kind of thing that might just happen

or the people will find out and become incensed

even the president doesn’t know, although Donald Trump has started to suspect

when Trump moved that hurricane with a sharpie i bet they all looked up and took notice

people make a lot of mistakes about who controls the weather

they’re not political appointees, of course

the most senior one has been there since the Reagan administration. his name is Dennis (he won’t give his last name)

he keeps saying he’s going to retire, the commute is getting to him

they operate out of Abraham Lincoln’s eye (the left one) in Mount Rushmore and getting there is just impossible

the office politics are a mess, too

Dennis is all about waterspouts

Sheila has her heart set on derechos for everyone and she won’t take no

Karen on the other hand favors haboobs

(they choose them based entirely on how much fun they are to say)

most days they don’t agree on any weather at all

but when they have a big deadline coming up they stay late and order in sandwiches and you can see the eye shining late into the night

don’t tell FEMA about us, they are always saying. FEMA will be so upset that we exist, all those hours of work they put in, trying to help people

or the National Weather Service, says Karen

oh god, Sheila says, imagine the weather service finding out!

trying to track storms, trying to get good information, when all they need to do is come here and grab a sharpie

it’s a good thing for us that everyone who has been looking for a group of people controlling the weather has been so antisemitic, says Dennis. this is the last place they will think to look

that is a common mistake

if anything the office is a little too Christian for comfort

there is a bible on a shelf marked open to the flood for easy reference and sometimes for inspiration Sheila goes and flips through Revelation

but yes they move hurricanes all over the map

that’s the primary thing that they do

the second one is decide what to order for lunch

this often takes a long time

it is not that they’re indifferent to human suffering exactly but they have a quota to reach or they don’t get paid

and Sheila needs the health insurance

a few years ago they had budget cuts and it was just awful

so little weather

and once, drawing some winds on the map, they ran out of ink and a gale died down and several boats that had been about to founder on Lake Michigan were saved

it’s not really political although they are prepared to be political if given direction

there is a big chart in the office listing who voted how and if you call your congressman he can try to get them to stop the winds

so far no congressman has succeeded

only one ever even managed to call and they were so surprised they picked up

but then they just sat on the line saying nothing and finally he gave up

they’re honestly mostly good community members although Karen has been volunteering less

she says, because of Everything That’s Going On and won’t elaborate

Dennis goes online and gives without apparent irony to the gofundme’s of the victims of his storms

and then he shows up monday and gets back to moving them around

i think Donald Trump will come shut them down

if he can find them

he has to know where to look

when Donald Trump gets back in power he is ending the whole enterprise for good

or sending the worst storm that he can think of to his least favorite people

he’s still making his mind up which

of course they’re real

(as real as the button that you push for economic prosperity. big and red and in the oval office. you can’t miss it)

sometimes people talk about climate change but we know nothing we can do makes any difference, we can’t even get them to keep serving breakfast at taco bell

all the important decisions are made in rooms we aren’t in so we can’t possibly impact the weather

but the government can and they are

there’s a room somewhere

we just have to keep looking for the room

Half In U.S. Have Experienced Extreme Weather This Year

 

This chart is from the USA Today / Ipsos Poll -- done between July 21st and 23rd of a nationwide sample of 1,024 adults, with a 3.3 point margin of error.

33% Of Americans Have Been Affected By Extreme Weather

 

These charts are from a Gallup Poll -- done between March 1st and 23rd of a nationwide sample of 1,009 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.

Fox News LIED About The Electric Grid Failure In Texas

 

The electric grid failure in Texas was a disaster for millions of Texans. That didn't matter to Fox News. They decided to use the disaster to push their own political agenda, and to do they they lied about the cause of the disaster. They said it was caused by the green energy proposal (even though none of that proposal has been instituted in Texas) and the use of renewable energy sources (such as wind energy). They failed to mention that the Texas windmills were not weatherized (as they are in other states), and that is why they froze.

Here is some of what PolitiFact had to say about the Fox News lies:

Fox News and other cable networks are spinning a false narrative that says frozen wind turbines, solar panels and even, somehow, the Green New Deal are to blame for Texas’ crippled energy system, according to a PunditFact review of closed caption information.

It’s true that about half of Texas’ wind power capacity was shut down early in the week as some turbine blades froze over thanks to a rare blast of Arctic air. 

But state energy officials and energy experts said early on that the bigger problem was that the state’s deregulated natural gas infrastructure was ill-equipped for the severe cold.

The Green New Deal hasn’t passed in Texas or elsewhere, and it wouldn’t be binding if it did.

Those are the facts behind the historic crisis in Texas, where rolling blackouts have left Texans boiling snow for water as they wait out the power outages and subfreezing temperatures.

But that’s not the story Fox News personalities are telling. There, hosts have pinned the blame solely or mostly on the frozen wind turbines. They have told viewers that Texans are feeling the sting of green energy policies in a state run for decades by Republicans.

Some of the most widespread and erroneous claims came from Fox News host Tucker Carlson, whose primetime show is among the most-watched cable news programs.

"Unbeknownst to most people, the Green New Deal came to Texas, the power grid in the state became totally reliant on windmills," Carlson said Feb. 16. "Then it got cold, and the windmills broke, because that’s what happens in the Green New Deal."

PolitiFact rated the claim Pants on Fire. But Carlson wasn’t alone.

Between Feb. 15 and Feb. 16 alone, windmills or wind turbines were mentioned more than 100 times on Fox News’ and Fox Business Network’s programs, according to TVEyes, a media monitoring service. The Green New Deal was mentioned more than 25 times.

To a lesser extent, the same terms cropped up repeatedly on Newsmax TV and One America News Network, two newer stations competing for the same audience. . . .

In reality, experts said the primary problem was that Texas’ thermal power plants, which make up a larger share of the state’s energy supply, were not built to withstand the cold. The plants began to go offline just as freezing temperatures boosted the demand for heating, prompting the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to impose rolling blackouts. 

"To think that there’s anything wrong with renewables is entirely a red herring," said Sam Newell, an electricity expert at the Brattle Group, which has analyzed Texas’ power grid. 

GOP Officials Must Take The Blame For Texas' Disaster

You've probably heard by now of the electric grid disaster in the state of Texas. As extremely cold temperatures, accompanied by snow and ice, blanketed the entire state, the power companies have been unable to meet the demand for electricity.

Millions of Texans have been without any electricity -- some of them for more than two days. 

This is inexcusable -- and it did not have to happen.

Our governor, and many of his right-wing cronies are trying to blame the disaster on the "green new deal" and renewable energy sources. That's a stupid and ludicrous argument. No part of the "green new deal" has been passed in Texas, and only a tiny percentage of energy in the state comes from renewable sources.

What is the real reason? The reason is because Texas Republican officials made sure that Texas had its own electric grid. They did that because they didn't want energy sources and electric producers to have to spend money to protect the system from sub-freezing temperatures. They mistakenly thought that was something Texas didn't have to worry about.

The rest of the nation is not having these problems. Why? Because they were smart enough to make sure their energy and electric sources were protected.

Texas did not do that -- and the blame must fall on the state's right-wing Republicans. They thought that squeezing more profits out for wealthy energy interests was more important than protecting the electric grid and its energy producers. They were wrong! And Texas consumers are paying the price.

Now we are hearing the cold snap was a once in a generation thing. That may have been true in the past, but probably not now. This country, and Texas, have been ignoring global climate change. This climate change is not just warming the globe, but has disrupted its weather patterns (including colder winters).

With the changing global weather patterns (due to our misuse of fossil fuels), we can't be sure this kind of cold weather disaster won't happen again for a long time. It could happen again next year, or in the next few years.

Texas must act to weatherize its energy sources and its electric grid. If the rest of the nation can dod it, so can Texas. It just requires some political will to require it. Whining about the costs of doing it should be ignored. We have listened to that whining for far too long -- and that is what has caused the current disaster.

But that is not enough. Winterizing our electric system is just a start. We must also start to take global climate change seriously -- and act to stop it. Failure to do so will just insure that more weather disasters (of all kinds) will happen in the futures, and happen more frequently.

We could start by kicking the GOP out of power in the state. They have shown they care more about the wealthy than the citizens of the state -- and that is unlikely to change.

Amarillo Is Still The Windiest City In The United States

I don't know that this is something to be proud of, but it does explain why so many wind generators are being built here around Amarillo. Once again The Weather Channel (using data from the NOAA National Climatic Data Center) has declared Amarillo to be the windiest city in the United States. The figures in the chart above represent the average wind speed for the entire year. Amarillo averaged a full 1 mph above the second place city (Rochester, Minnesota).

Public Concerned About Climate Change & Wants Action

This past few days has once again made it clear that the climate is changing -- and it's not changing for the better. Seldom has almost the entire country seen bad weather at the same time, but it happened here at the end of 2015 (blizzards, floods, tornadoes, thunder storms w/heavy rains & high winds, etc.).

Fortunately, the public is concerned about the warming of the planet that is changing weather patterns (and making them more severe). Note in the top chart that a significant majority of the public (66%) say they are concerned about climate change -- and that includes significant majorities of every demographic group but one. Only Republicans claim not to be concerned -- evidently having drunk the denial kool-aid their party officials are selling.

And even better, it looks like the public wants the government to take action. About 69% of the public says they want the next president to institute policies to fight the climate change -- and that also includes significant majorities of all demographic groups (including a plurality of Republicans).

Elected Republican officials can continue their denials in an attempt to protect Big Oil and other polluters, but the public is no longer buying it. They want something done.

The charts above represent the results of a recent Quinnipiac University Poll -- done between December 16th and 20th of a random national sample of 1,140 registered voters, with a margin of error of 2.9 points.