Climate Change Shouldn’t Be Political
In the midst of political campaigns on the state and national level, climate change is one of the most talked about subjects. Right wing conservatives usually side with the opinion that yes, the climate is changing but whether it is man-made, natural, or something we should be actively trying to combat is up for debate. On the other side, most liberals argue that climate change is happening, is the result of humans, and needs immediate action to combat the effects.
Although the effects of climate change have been documented, from the 2015 blizzards and unusually cold temperatures, to the recent California wildfires, the percentage of Americans concerned about climate change is worryingly low. In 2017, for example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported the percentage of voters who were “very concerned” about climate change was about 40%. (https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-challenging-politics-of-climate-change/). What makes it worse is that “about a third to almost half of the public believes that the seriousness of global warming is generally exaggerated”, which, for the record, it is not. The lack of urgency surrounding climate change is a huge problem considering this issue should be independent of age, religion, partisanship, or any other division.
The majority of conservatives have maintained the argument that humans are not to blame for climate change, with a study published by Pew Research stating that “85% of conservative Republicans did not think humans were to blame. Nor did 66% of moderate Republicans” (https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-climate-change-political-views-20161004-snap-story.html). This in itself is troubling because of the science behind climate change but the truth is that it doesn’t matter if climate change is our fault, it’s happening and it’s going to cause a lot of problems for people all around the world. Once the effects of climate change become irreversible, arguments of how big a role humans played in causing global warming will be moot.
From a religious perspective, climate change is a clear cut issue: care for creation. A large parts of most Christian doctrines and denominations maintains that protecting all of God’s creation is part of being human. The Catholic Church published a formal response to global warming, “An Introduction to Care For Our Common Home” this past April recognizing the validity and need for action in response to climate change. Back in 2010, when the urgency of climate change was less than now, Pope Benedict stated at the World Day of Peace, “If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation” (https://www.crs.org/sites/default/files/catholic_response_to_global_warming-crs.pdf). Similarly, the Jewish faith stresses an obligation to improve the world for the next generation. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC) highlights the need to learn how to “live within the ecological limits of the earth so that we will not compromise the ecological or economic security of those who come after” (https://rac.org/jewish-values-climate-change-energy). So on the issue of climate change, science and church agree completely.
It is also well known that large corporations are responsible for most of the emissions causing climate change. The major arguments for resisting making large corporations greener is that the efforts would be expensive and time consuming. Although climate change is an inconvenience, the repercussions of it will be even more time consuming and expensive. OneBrief even reports that is is becoming more beneficial for companies to make eco friendly changes! “Evidence is mounting that companies with lower greenhouse gas emissions perform better on average,” states OneBrief (https://theonebrief.com/why-environmental-sustainability-is-becoming-big-for-business-2). It goes on to say that even though solar panels are extremely expensive, they tend to pay for themselves in 10-20 years. So from a business perspective, enacting policies to cut down on emissions is better in the long run financially. A deteriorating planet is so not good for business.
These categories are broad and incomplete but the point of the last page and a half was to illustrate that climate change is happening, and it’s happening fast. No matter how you look at it, a melting planet hurts everyone, no matter political party, religion, region, it is a huge threat not just for us but the generations that come after us. Climate change shouldn’t be political because the consequences of it affect every political party and the benefits of keeping Earth livable benefit everyone.