Wow. Just…wow.
I have repeatedly attributed America’s polarization to my perception that MAGA folks occupy an alternate reality–an environment where Democrats drink kids’ blood in a pizza parlor’s (non-existent) basement and a mysterious figure known as “Q” will emerge to save the world from a nefarious (non-existent) “deep state.” But recently, the Guardian reported on an even more troubling refusal to confront a reality that is rapidly becoming too obvious for sane folks to ignore.
According to that report, nearly one in four members of Congress dismiss the reality of climate change. The paper identified a total of 123 elected federal representatives – 100 in the House of Representatives and 23 US senators – who continue to deny the existence of human-caused climate change.
You will not be surprised to learn that they are all Republicans. Every single one.
According to a Center for American Progress report, those climate-change-denying lawmakers have been rewarded with a combined $52m in lifetime campaign donations from the fossil fuel industry, so it is difficult to tell whether they are profoundly anti-science (and, arguably, intellectually unfit to hold elective office) or simply corrupt.(Ethically unfit.)
Meanwhile, rational folks–especially those with children and grandchildren who will have to navagate an increasingly hostile environment–want government to take measures to ameliorate the threat.
And that threat–despite GOP insanity–is very real. In the same issue of the Guardian that contained the report on Republican climate denial, there was a brief story about photos taken by British tourists at the same spot in the Swiss Alps. The photos were taken almost exactly 15 years apart and highlighted the speed with which global heating is melting glaciers.
i talk a lot about culture war on this blog. Because I’m a recovering lawyer and a past Executive Director of Indiana’s ACLU, those discussions have disproportionately focused on the threat culture warriors like Micah Beckwith and Jim Banks pose to civil liberties, especially (but certainly not exclusively) the threat that these American theocrats pose to genuine religious liberty. That threat is very real, but–as the Guardian report makes abundantly clear–adherence to a worldview that excludes empirical evidence isn’t just an affront to the Constitution. It’s suicidal.
Over the past few years, we’ve read headlines like this one from the Telegraph: “Congressman says God will save us from climate change.” (At least he admitted that climate change exists, so I suppose that’s a point in his favor…)
A Republican congressman who believes that global warming is not a threat because God has promised not to destroy the Earth has put himself forward as chairman of a powerful committee that deals with energy policy and its effect on the environment.
John Shimkus, an evangelical Christian representing Illinois, quoted the Bible in a congressional hearing last year on a proposed “cap and trade” legislation designed to limit carbon emissions…
Shimkus isn’t the only Republican culture warrior who relies on God to fix those pesky climate problems. That reliancee is nothing new, either–in 2017, Time Magazine reported
A Republican congressman told his constituents that he believes God will “take care of” climate change if it proves to be a “real problem.”
Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg said during a town hall in Coldwater, Mich., on Friday that while he believes climate change is real, it is not something for humans to solve.
Subsequent evidence of intensifying bad weather hasn’t challenged Walberg’s belief that God will take care of the problem, so mankind need not bother. Not long after then-President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, Walberg told his constituents that if it turned into a “real” problem, God would “take care of” climate change.
So here we are, with an entire political party that rejects science and empirical evidence (including the evidence of their own “lying eyes”) in favor of fundamentalist religious dogma. (It should go without saying that such dogma is hotly contested by more rational religious figures–the Pope, for one, has issued an Encyclical urging action on climate change.)
This rejection of evidence–this wholesale dismissal of science and logic and expertise– is an underappreciated threat posed by MAGA culture warriors. Fully one-fourth of currently-serving American legislators have opted to live in–and defend–an alternate reality. These people shouldn’t be in government. To a significant extent, they owe their elections to Republican gerrymandering, but voter apathy has also been a contributor.
A Blue wave would sweep at least some of these people out of office, and would facilitate government action on the environment. By humans.
Another reason to vote Blue…..
We know that there is at least one thing green that they all agree on, that’s the color of the money that keeps pouring in. Meanwhile, the fossil fuel industry is hedging their bet. They know how much of the world’s supply of oil is left and they have no problem exploiting it. They’re just trying to make it possible for them to control the clean energy industry, before they use up all of the fossil fuels.
I’ve got at least one relative who doesn’t believe in climate change. She’s a Republican, of course, and is also a vitamin/supplement nut as one of her kitchen cabinets is devoted to about 100 bottles of such foolishness. I’m pretty certain she doesn’t read your blog, so I’m safe for now. Thanks for exposing this Republican anti-science issue. It’s not just vaccines and masks that Republicans spread false information about.
Religion, such an important part of so many lives, has also been the bane of human existence. Bill Maher’s movie Religulous explicitly points out where that is, and has been, the truth all along. Everyone of course is entitled to their own thoughts on the subject, and I respect that right, but that doesn’t alter the truth of the matter. It seems to me that climate change denial falls along the same lines, and there is little anyone can do to shake those beliefs. All that can be done is to continue to pose the truth at every opportunity, quietly and/or loudly, hoping to encourage positive reactions to science-based information. Voting BLUE may be the most effective action of all.
In addition to the climate issue, , how about the Indy Star dedicating an entire 6 page section to Micah Beckwith on Sunday? An avowed white nationalist being treated like the Second Coming. I’m still horrified.
If those Republican/MAGA people in Congress have been lying about the reality of climate change, and have adopted the Big Lie as their mantra, what else are they lying about? I look forward to the time that the voters finally realize how much they have been lied to and manipulated by MAGA, and turn all that hate and anger toward the liars in the form of votes and direct action.
In the meantime, GOTV!
It isn’t surprising that one in four Congressmen are climate change deniers. What is surprising is that the number is not higher considering the intellectual and moral level of the Republican Party.
Considering the incredible level of access to knowledge in this era how is it possible for so many to know so little? One would think that persons accessing the various channels of knowledge would seek out knowledge instead of entertainment.
Alas, the original sin of laziness rears its ugly head.
Sheila’s question, “Are Republicans true non-believers of climate change, or are they paid to think that way?” is legitimate, and I would say a combination of both.
And those who believe their bibles over empirical science shouldn’t be serving in a statehouse or for the federal government. I don’t think they should be serving a local constituency. I don’t want a representative who reads his/her bible at night for answers when they have a package of evidence in front of them.
I quickly checked Tim Wahlberg, and he’s a millionaire due to serving in Washington on Education and Energy Committees. His top donors are Electric Utilities. Yeah, shocking, I know, but the money always tells the story in US politics. In a legitimate government, he couldn’t serve on the Energy Committee while Electric Utilities are paying him, but our federal government isn’t legitimate. It’s rotten at the local level, statehouses, and federal government levels. Electric utilities and coal own Indiana because we produce energy for the Midwest. My understanding is our statehouse built a new harbor on the Ohio River so Koch could drop off their coal for Duke Energy in a more convenient spot.
It’s why our air sucks, and our water sucks because the other owner is CAFOs via Farm Bureau. The number of CAFOs in Indiana is disgusting. We literally have thousands of ditches leading into our rivers and streams. Indiana’s representatives who get kickbacks from these operators have handcuffed the local communities, too, with their “Right to Farm” bills.
One last point is we do have a “Deep State” in this country; it’s just not who Republicans or MAGA Cult members think it is. I watch Alex Jones and company spread the nonsense that infiltrates the far-right media landscape. It permeates podcasts and TV broadcasting. It’s always a CONSPIRACY with them because the “Marxist media is part of their Deep State.” #looney
Having been active with the Boy Scouts my whole life, I have attended almost 50 years worth of summer camps, I worry that in a few more years summer camp and sleeping outdoors in tents is going to be a thing of the past. Our troop, for the last 30 years has gone to summer camp in the last full week in June. Last year we moved that date back by a week because more and more, that last week in June is seeing August like weather. More troubling, it’s not the day time highs that are rapidly rising, it’s the nighttime lows that seem to be getting so much warmer, so that instead of dropping down to 60 degrees at night, it rarely gets below 70. That makes for a warm uncomfortable nights with the higher humidity levels as well.
All you and I have to work with is our memories of past experiences. That’s our software and operating system. We add some chemicals that emphasize some experiences more than others because they are more important to survival.
Some of what we remember is factual, reliable information from becoming educated—reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic. In addition, we see behavior all around us, that is, the fashion of times and places and some people, and that it is only one way to live among many possibilities. It is one way among many to get through life. One name for this is “culture”.
Both education and culture are essential to being human. Some trouble comes from the fact that culture is a local adaptation while education is universally true. (While our languages are universal in that the sounds that English, for example, assigns to a particular meaning may be local, that sound identified with which language it comes from is universal. “Book” becomes universal when identified with what the English language assigns.)
Science is education in what people who call themselves scientists have revealed about the behavior of elemental particles and forces throughout the universe. It is not culture.
That’s a long preface that concludes that some humans have an education that separates them from others in a field of universal truth. Others get through life knowing much less of the facts of how everything behaves and interacts. In other words, we all have cultures that are shared with some people and not others, but we also have education that is factual and universally true.
What qualified scientists and engineers say about the behavior of energy and matter vis a vis the biosphere, which contains all life, is not opinion but fact.
Human behavior, such as burning fossil fuels and disposing of leftover waste by dumping and diluting it in the atmosphere, is predictable by some but not by all humans. Those not sufficiently educated in that particular science have only culture to deal with the problem. An effective cultural possibility is to accept experts’ predictions about that reality. An ineffective cultural possibility is to assign credibility to those who are not educated in that science.
And how many of the long time climate deniers are continuing election deniers; Republicans all?
We can read the polls and watch the rallies of both sides; recognizing the liars and name-callers with their childish insults and listen to the actions the opposition want to take to resolve problems we struggling with, for or against day by day. But it will all get down to November 5th General Election outcome, but not necessarily on November 5th or early November 6th. Not till January 6, 2025 will the full and hopefully the true outcome be known. For many on the Republican side, the 2020 presidential election isn’t over yet; it won’t “be over till the fat lady sings” and Kate Smith died decades ago…is that the crux of the Republican presidential appointments situation since George H. W. Bush?
Maybe “their God” take care of Climate Change by setting our entire planet on fire and watching it burn to a crisp.
Re Jeni F’s comment about the Indy Star’s 6 page report on Micah Beckwith. I wonder just how much money out-of-state donors and PACs had to pay for that. I am guessing it was a massive windfall for the paper.
As other commenters have mentioned, we need to get Big Money out of politics.
Beyond that, maybe laziness plays a part. The voters voted for the Congress members mentioned, not God. They have an obligation to do their jobs to govern the country. That is what we pay them for. If they deny that climate change is happening, then they don’t have to do anything to remedy the situation. They want to take their salaries and perks from the taxpayers, but don’t want to bother themselves to do any work in return.
Denial of evidence based reality for some folk is a convenient deferral of responsibility and accountability. It is unAmerican; so they self appoint themselves as channels of The Holy Spirit. It is unChristian. So they worship in reality this unNordic Blondie wearing vanity panties squeezing his massive girth, from consumption of gourmet cheese burgers, draped over by custom tailored silk suits paid for by his campaign war chest. He foretells his followers if enough of you vote for me, you will never have to vote again. That is verification that Blondie has been advised he is telling his base exactly what they want to hear: anything absolving them of responsibility and accountability. It is Shakesperian tragic entertainment, folks. Enjoy the popcorn. 🤗
The supposition that Republicans are the philosophical slaves of corporate/banking America shouldn’t be surprised that these fundamentally corrupt fools are the weakest minds in the land, elected by those suffering from cultural disinformation.
Another example before Trump was the Gingrich Congress overturning the Glass-Steagall Act of 1934 that prevented banks from speculating with depositor money. “Remove those pesky regulations”, they say. Yeah, well, I guess the 2007 financial collapse proved how important regulations really are.
Remember, everything Republicans touch dies.
Amazing that Congressman Shimkus doesn’t listen to the sacred wisdom he’s hearing every day about climate change. God IS taking action to stop the climate disaster, by inspiring activists. Shimkus is ignoring that wisdom.
Good religion pays attention to what God says through empirical data and the voice of social justice, not just thru 1-sided misreadings of scripture.
Amazing that Congressman Shimkus doesn’t listen to the sacred wisdom he’s hearing every day about climate change. God IS taking action to stop the climate disaster, by inspiring activists. Shimkus is ignoring that wisdom.
Good religion pays attention to what God says through empirical data and the voice of social justice, not just thru 1-sided misreadings of scripture.
Nancy, I can picture “their God” sitting on His throne roasting marshmallows, as the planet burns, throwing down a beer, or two. I also wonder whether, or not, those who believe that “their God” will fix things also believe that our galaxy, if they can buy that “story” is the only one in the universe.
We were in Alaska in ’15, and, at one point were standing on the shore of Mendenhall Lake, at a ranger’s station, looking north to the face of the Mendenhall glacier. A fellow visitor, who said she’d been there 25 years prior, said that at that time there was no lake, and the glacier had extended, in effect, “All the way down there.” I have photo of an opening in the face thereof from which a huge flow of melt water was running out, 24/7. I can not upload it to the blog.
Thank you, Sheila, for sharing this. One more reason to vote Blue this November. Your investigations and commentaries are so helpful and necessary(!) as we make our way through the ugly mud that the GOP slings our way constantly. Don’t stop.
Three “blue waves” in a row is the minimum requirement. 2024 alone won’t do the trick.
In the meantime, The 7th Circuit opened the floodgates to allow corporations to dump big bucks into Indiana political contests.
https://www.courthousenews.com/seventh-circuit-orders-injunction-on-indiana-campaign-finance-rule/
The Star is a propaganda purveyor. I stopped my subscription years ago when it became waste paper filled with bleed ledes and local entertainment/eateries and SPORTS. Nonexistent coverage of the General Assembly as the only paper in the capitol city. Beckwith is a dangerous and vicious shill.
Those citing God as the only answer to climate change might want to remember that last time God supposedly took care of a problem. They have an Ark replica in KY as a reminder.
As a former science teacher I can attest to the human tendency to deny evidence that does not support our preconceived opinions. Some people will still be denying global warming right up until they die of heat stroke. It’s up to the rest of us to save ourselves.
Propublica,Andy Kroll. you can see the vids project 2025 has made to argue the issues. its been hacked and for your horror. the actual training vids for the take over,and how to accomplish it.. obviously, its a coup.
Mark Graham, a talented singer-songwriter, was prescient in his 1985 song “Have a Nice Day,” about evangelical Christian involvement with politics. One particular verse is, unfortunately, just as topical now as it was then:
“We believe in conservation and will do all that we can
To manage our resources for the benefit of man.
And we believe that Judgment Day is coming with all haste
And anything that we don’t use will then have gone to waste.”
Side note–my sister lived down the street from Shimkus and it sounds about right. Before I finished reading your blog, I commented to myself–what religion do they all practice and Boom! Evangelical/Southern Baptist/Church of Christ/Nazerene’s…My primary care physician gave up on trying to get alot of these people the Covid shot because the response was typically–If God wants me to get it and I die from it–that is God’s will. It is pervasive.
There is a divide among Christians (and I am a Christian) but I don’t believe that God really is all that interactive in our day to day lives; but I have learned that a significant number really feel that God interacts every day. I am under the belief system that ‘we’ the people are to act on God’s behalf and so taking care of the Earth, stopping genocide, hunger, disparities, etc….are what ‘we’ the people are to do anything else is passive and lazy.
A big part of the problem is narrow-minded, short-sighted corporate interest and corporate money influencing/dominating the Republican Party. But so too is their philosophy of government. Efforts to address climate change require bigger government, not smaller government; international collaboration, not withdrawal from critical alliances and organizations; and reliance on the expertise that resides in universities and federal agencies, not the demonization of both academia and the federal bureaucracy.
It’s beyond the human ability to save one’s self. If you really look at the progression of alternate realities, and alternate dogma, you can see how it’s increased to the point of saturation today. Really, the boost was from Ronald Reagan, and, The acolytes that became movers and shakers in that alternate existence.
Just like those who decided to convert the Jews so that they could go to heaven, lol, that really has just evolved into much more about fanatical dogma, quite expansive and craved by those who have been left amongst the dregs of existence today. They look for that ethos that they can never have in an actual reality, but are told, that certain individuals have reached the pinnacle of authority, and will change everything to the Ethostic dream that they’ve been told about and feel that longing for.
James Bond type mass brainwashing is not just a fantasy, you can see it today.
2 Timothy
3 But of this be taking note—That in last days there will set in perilous seasons;
2 For men will be—fond of themselves, fond of money, ostentatious, arrogant, defamers, to parents unyielding, unthankful, unkind,
3 without natural affection, accepting no truce, given to intrigue, without self-control, uncivilized, unfriendly to good men,
4 traitors, reckless, beclouded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but the power thereof denying!
If we are not careful, the subtle propaganda and the many “deceivers” can corrupt our thinking……..(Titus 1:10.)
It’s appalling. The majority of American farmers believe that climate change is man made and dangerous. The majority of the large property insurance firms, not just in the USA but globally, believe that man made climate change is a massive risk for which they must be prepared. Yet we have a combination of religious nut jobs and greedy money grubbers in Congress who will thwart efforts to solve this mess. I read the novel “The Ministry for the Future” with absolute dread, because many of the nightmarish scenarios described there are happening already. We’re doomed. Un less we vote them allllllll out.
It seems that we cannot “Be true to thine own self”. Farmers know that certain practices are damaging, yet continue on. We all know we should be driving less in our gas powered cars, yet we continue on. My daughter sat next to Jim Banks at an event and chit chatted and he came across as sane. Then he got up to speak.
Where is self-respect and looking at yourself in a mirror. Humankind is in trouble and due to more than just MAGA.