Only Democrats Fighting to Save the Planet

While it has rained a bit and even cooled off some in the last couple of weeks much of Texas and the country still suffers severe drought conditions that have impacted agriculture. According to experts at Texas Tech University the High Plains area around Lubbock and Amarillo, the most productive of the state’s nine cotton-growing regions, will lose $2.1 billion of this year’s cotton harvest. Farmers in the Rio Grande valley will also have a much less profitable crop of vegetables as they’ve been unable to plant this year due to the drought.

You’ve probably seen news reports of various surprises found in rivers and lakes where the low water levels. Five bodies have been found in Lake Mead including one in a barrel that appears to be a mob-related murder victim. In Europe the Danube river water level has fallen to one of its lowest levels in almost a century as a result of the drought, exposing the remains of more than 20 German warships sunk during World War II near Serbia’s river port town of Prahovo. The sunken ships are now causing problems for ships navigating the river. In Spain, a prehistoric stone circle dubbed the “Spanish Stonehenge” has re-emerged; it is usually covered by waters in a man-made reservoir created in the 1960's which have fallen due to the worst drought in decades.

These world-wide droughts and outrageous temperatures are becoming both more frequent and more intense. Only by reducing the production of greenhouse gases by a large fraction by 2030 will we stand a chance of preventing starvation, disease, war, and migration all over this planet. If you think there is a crisis at our southern border now, wait until the drought in Central America takes hold.

Not a single sitting Republican in the United States Senate or House will acknowledge the threat of human caused climate change let alone take any action to stem that threat. Democrats led by Joe Biden have acted. In addition to the various incentives and projects included in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act the Biden administration has directed all federal agencies to review and take action to reduce carbon emissions, recycle waste, set rules to make green energy projects easier to move forward, and put the funds they administer to work helping farmers, businesses, and individual citizens do the same. Another recently passed bill, the Chips and Science Act, includes funding for clean energy projects and battery production in addition to semi-conductors, nanotechnology, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence.

Joe Biden and the Democrats have made big strides toward reducing production of the greenhouse gases that are raising global temperatures but there is much more to do and not much time to do it. The only way that we’ll continue to see progress on this issue is if Democrats continue to control the House and Senate in addition to the presidency. Since Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have not only failed to take action in Texas they’ve actively worked against protecting our environment we can look forward to more of the same here if they aren’t beaten in the November election. Fossil fuel interests all over Texas are providing massive funding for Republicans and argue that they’re producing jobs while hiding the fact that green energy projects actually employ more people in higher wage, safer jobs than they do.

If you want to have a livable climate here in Texas for your children and grand-children there is no more important action you can take than voting for every Democrat on the November ballot.