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Is the Republican Party Bent on Global Suicide? [1]

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Date: 2022-08-14

The Harrison Power Station, a coal-fired plant in Haywood, W.Va.

Hot enough for you yet?

Republicans in the United States Senate and House of Representatives voted unanimously against a budget reconciliation bill that includes measures to combat climate change. In the midst of a national epidemic of mass shootings, Republicans block reasonable gun regulation. Despite public support for abortion rights, Republicans want to prevent a woman’s ability to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. A newly exposed campaign by Republican state officials to punish companies that take responsible climate measures may be one of the party’s most sinister efforts. At this point in time a vote for a Republican candidate, any Republican candidate, empowers the worst elements of the party. The Republican Party seems bent on global suicide and a vote for any Republican is effectively a death wish for family, community, and Planet Earth.

According to the New York Times, Republican state treasurers are trying to prevent state and federal climate action by attacking banks and businesses as part of a coordinated and well-funded campaign to protect fossil fuel companies. The attack on climate and potentially the future of human civilization is financed by rightwing foundations and organizations including the Heritage Foundation, the Heartland Institute, and the American Petroleum Institute.

West Virginia, Louisiana, and Arkansas withdrew over $700 million from investment manager BlackRock because state officials consider it too focused on environmental issues. Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Oklahoma are part of a campaign to prevent the nomination of federal regulators if they support requiring banks, funds and companies to disclose financial risks caused by a warming planet. Utah and Idaho officials pressure local businesses to drop climate action and support for any “woke” ideas. In West Virginia, the state treasurer announced the state would no longer do business with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, Wells Fargo and any other banks and businesses that are reducing investment in coal, the worst of the civilization killing fossil fuels.

Unfortunately, the banks under attack in West Virginia and in other states don’t boycott the fossil fuel industry and continue to do substantial business with oil and gas companies. They have, however, recognized that as prudent fiscal measures as the Earth’s climate transforms, they need to reduce their holdings in polluting industries.

In announcing this policy, West Virginia’s Republican State Treasurer denied the science that explains the impact of fossil fuels on climate change. According to Riley Moore “The climate has been changing in the world since Earth was created. Whether these greenhouse gas emissions are contributing to the warming of the globe, I’m not sure I necessarily agree with that.” Moore confidently ignores climate projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IIPCC) that suggest that temperatures in West Virginia by 3°F by 2100. This would be devastating for the agricultural industry in the state. West Virginia is already suffering from forest fires and more intense rainfall events with accompanying severe flooding. The West Virginia country roads John Denver sang about may soon just wash away.

Follow Alan Singer on twitter at https://twitter.com/AlanJSinger1

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/14/2116597/-Is-the-Republican-Party-Bent-on-Global-Suicide

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