The national emergency I’m talking about is the imminent threat
to the health, safety and security of all Americans by the factually-documented
phenomenon of global climate change. Unlike Trump’s claims regarding the manufactured
“invasion” of our southern border by crazed illegal immigrants bent on robbing,
raping, kidnapping and beheading our fine citizens – using statistics he pulled
out of his…fantasy world – the negative effects of climate change are proven by
scientific evidence.
In its 2018 report, the United Nations Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change found that the consequences of unchecked climate change
are far more dire than previously thought, and that avoiding the damage
requires transforming the world economy at a speed and scale that has “no
documented historic precedent.”
The report was written by 91 lead authors and 133
contributing authors from 40 countries around the world who assessed 30,000
scientific papers and made more than 42,000 comments during the review process.
Factual findings like theirs simply cannot be ignored.
The report warns that the world has already warmed by 1°C
since the middle of the 19th century, and could reach 1.5°C before the middle
of this century at the current rate of warming. Failure to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases to net zero by the middle of this century will result in unprecedented
climate-related risks and weather events including more frequent and intense
heat waves, droughts, more damaging storms and rising oceans. It describes a
world of worsening food shortages and wildfires and a mass die-off of coral
reefs as soon as 2040 – a period well within the lifetime of much of the global
population.
For those doing the math at home, in 2040 my elder daughter
will be my age now, her sister will be two years younger and my grandchildren
will be 46, 36, 31 and 29. I hope they are still alive then, but if they are, this
will be the world in which they live, so these are the people we need to
protect.
That’s why I could go all in on a proposal to spend $5.7
billion or whatever it takes to promote and advance the development of
alternative energy sources such as wind, hydroelectric and solar that don’t
blast ozone-depleting chemicals into the air, and the shuttering of fossil
fuel-burning power plants that do.
What’s that you say? A climate change initiative doesn’t do
it for you? Well, then how about this:
I would also support a declaration of a national emergency to
address America’s crumbling infrastructure problem that threatens the health,
safety and security of every citizen. I’d support spending $5.7 billion or
whatever it takes to repair the thousands of roads and bridges that are falling
into disrepair by the day. I’d do this before a bridge collapses in [pick your
state] and kills a few hundred people or before a sinkhole opens up on
Interstate [pick a number] and swallows up cars full of motorists whole.
Still not enough to convince you? Then I have one more:
How about we spend $5.7 billion or whatever it takes to
improve the education system in America? In addition to increasing teacher
salaries, I’d suggest we allocate the funds to shore up crumbling schools and
failing academic performance, help alleviate massive student loan debt and make
colleges and trade schools free or at least more affordable for all students so
that more of us can qualify for good jobs.
Improving our education system would undoubtedly make
Americans healthier, safer and more secure and I can prove it. The education system
we have now spawned 62 million people who voted for Donald Trump to be president
of the United States, including a few million who think he was sent to us by
god to become king, and who still support him in spite of two years of lies,
aberrant behavior and a demonstrated inability to comprehend the simplest concepts
of democracy, global politics, American government and the rule of law.
Electing Donald Trump unquestionably ranks as one of the
greatest threats to the health, safety and security of the American people
since our nation was founded in 1776. If that level of stupidity doesn’t
translate into a national emergency then I don’t know what would.
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