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Re Irma won't "wake up" climate change-denying Republicans. Their whole ideology is on the line.
From: "Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2017 23:14:05 +0000
---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Schwartz, John <jswatz () nytimes com> Date: Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 7:12 PM Subject: Re: [IP] Re Irma won't "wake up" climate change-denying Republicans. Their whole ideology is on the line. To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net> Dave, The "no major storms in 10 years" is a popular meme among those who deny the overwhelming evidence that supports climate change, but it doesn't hold up. Tell people from my home town of Galveston, Texas that Ike wasn't a major storm, or the people of New York and New Jersey that the extratropical cyclone Sandy wasn't a major storm. Both storms were probably enhanced by climate change, but they did not meet the too-narrow definition of "major storm" in general use: a Category 3 or higher. This is statistical gamesmanship, not climate science, and people who make the argument should have to say these things to my friends from Galveston. It would be fun to watch. No respectable climate scientist says that storms are caused by climate change, but all of them say that elements of some storms are surely enhanced by climate change, especially surge and the amount of rainfall dropped by storms; there is growing evidence, too, that storms that survive wind shear and other challenges might be stronger than they otherwise would be because of warming oceans and other elements of climate change. In an interview I did with Texas A&M climate scientist Andrew Dessler a while back, he put it well: he the question of climate change and weather to trying to figure out which of Barry Bonds’s home runs were caused by his steroid use. “You know statistically some of them were, but you don’t know which ones,” he said. “Almost certainly, it would have rained a lot even without climate change — but it’s possible climate change juiced it, added a little bit.” On Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 6:50 PM, Dave Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote:
Begin forwarded message: *From:* Michael Robertson <mr () michaelrobertson com> *Date:* September 11, 2017 at 6:18:21 PM EDT *To:* David Farber <dave () farber net> *Subject:* *Re: [IP] Irma won't "wake up" climate change-denying Republicans. Their whole ideology is on the line.* I think it's important to be intellectually honest and that means if one is going to say a storm is proof of anything than they must defend the point that the absence of storms is also proof of the inverse. One significant storm hitting US shores is not proof of any change in climate just like no major hurricanes hitting US shores for the 10 years priors proves no changes in climate. -- MR SolidOpinion <http://SolidOpinion.com> - Google For Comments OnRad.io <http://OnRad.io/1> - Click this to hear the #1 song on radio! 858-344-6911 <(858)%20344-6911> On Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 3:09 PM, Dave Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote:Begin forwarded message: *From:* Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com> *Date:* September 11, 2017 at 4:28:07 PM EDT *To:* Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com> *Subject:* *[Dewayne-Net] Irma won't "wake up" climate change-denying Republicans. Their whole ideology is on the line.* *Reply-To:* dewayne-net () warpspeed com Irma won’t “wake up” climate change-denying Republicans. Their whole ideology is on the line. By Naomi Klein Sep 11 2017 < https://theintercept.com/2017/09/11/irma-donald-trump-tax-cuts-climate-change-republican-ideology-capitalism/As one of the most powerful storms ever recorded bore down on the continental United States, with much of Florida under evacuation order, President Donald Trump was focused on a matter of grave urgency. He gathered his cabinet at Camp David and said there was no time to waste. With Hurricane Irma set to potentially devastate huge swaths of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, now was the time, he said, to rush through massive … tax cuts. Yes, that’s right. He wasn’t focused on getting massive aid to those most affected. He wasn’t focused on massive change to our energy and transit systems to lower greenhouse gas emissions so that Irma-like storms do not become a thrice-annual occurrence. His mind was on massive changes to the tax code — which, despite Trump’s claims that he is driven by a desire to give the middle class relief, would in fact hand corporations the biggest tax cut in decades and the very wealthy a sizable break as well. Some have speculated that seeing the reality of climate change hit so close to homethis summer — Houston underwater, Los Angeles licked by flames, and now southern states getting battered by Irma — might be some kind of wake-up call for climate change-denying Republicans. As Trump’s address to his cabinet makes clear, however, Irma only makes him want to double down on his reckless economic agenda. Flanked by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, he explained that they were going to discuss “dramatic tax cuts and tax reform. And I think now with what’s happened with the hurricane, I’m gonna ask for a speed up.” Some have pointed out that this is a classic example of what I have called the “shock doctrine” — using disasters as cover to push through radical, pro-corporate policies. And it is a textbook case to be sure, especially because when Trump made his remarks, Irma was at the very height of its potential threat. But Trump’s timing is even more revealing for what it shows about what’s really driving climate change denial on the right. It’s not a rejection of the science, but a rejection of the consequences of the science. Put simply, if the science is true, then the whole economic project that has dominated American power structures since Ronald Reagan was president is out the window, and the deniers know it. Because if climate change is driving the kinds of catastrophes we are seeing right now — and it is — then it doesn’t just mean Trump has to apologize and admit he was wrong when he called it a Chinese hoax. It means that he also needs to junk his whole tax plan, because we’re going to need that tax money (and more) to pay for a rapid transition away from fossil fuels. And it also means he’s going to have to junk his deregulatory plan, because if we are going to change how we power our lives, we’re going to need all kinds of regulations to manage and enforce it. And, of course, this is not just about Trump — it’s about all the climate-denying Republican governors whose states are currently being pounded. All of them would have to junk an entire twisted worldview holding that the market is always right, regulation is always wrong, private is good and public is bad, and taxes that support public services are the worst of all. Here is what we need to understand in a hurry: Climate change, especially at this late date, can only be dealt with through collective action that sharply curtails the behavior of corporations, such as Exxon Mobil and Goldman Sachs (both so lavishly represented at Trump’s cabinet meeting). Climate action demands investments in the public sphere — in new energy grids, public transit and light rail, and energy efficiency — on a scale not seen since World War II. And that can only happen by raising taxes on the wealthy and on corporations, the very people Trump is determined to shower with the most generous tax cuts, loopholes, and regulatory breaks. 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-- John Schwartz <https://www.nytimes.com/by/john-schwartz> The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/> twitter.com/jswatz Telephone: 212 556 7353 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018 Speaking only for myself since 1957 ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/18849915-ae8fa580 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-aa268125 Unsubscribe Now: https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-32545cb4&post_id=20170911191422:F04C3E54-9746-11E7-90C9-8B84A3F83905 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- Re Irma won't "wake up" climate change-denying Republicans. Their whole ideology is on the line. Dave Farber (Sep 11)
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- Re Irma won't "wake up" climate change-denying Republicans. Their whole ideology is on the line. Dave Farber (Sep 13)
- Re Irma won't "wake up" climate change-denying Republicans. Their whole ideology is on the line. Dave Farber (Sep 13)