Climate Change Crisis

Al Gore Was Correct On Climate Change And Global Warming Three Decades Ago; If Only He Had Won The Presidency!

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Former Vice President and former Senator Al Gore was correct on climate change and global warming, which he warned us about thirty years ago.

Gore went on to concede, graciously, the Presidential Election of 2000, when the Supreme Court intervened in Bush V Gore, to award the electoral votes of the state of Florida to George W. Bush. His concession was a masterful example of statesmanship.

But had Gore, who won the popular vote by 540,000, become President, the history of America environmentally would have been transformed dramatically.

The Republican Party has continued to work against climate change and global warming incessantly for the past 25 years, while Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his activism, but for nought.

The battle on the environmental future continues, as the nation and the world are now suffering immensely from the stubbornness and resistance of the Right Wing Extremists who just continue to promote the use of oil and gas without any acceptance of the crisis the nation and the world have put themselves in by greed and the profit motive!

Difficult, Challenging Year Ahead In 2024!

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America is facing the likelihood that 2024 will be the most tumultuous year imaginable, as the nation faces the following:

A Presidential Election in November where the likelihood is that we will have the first time since 1888 (Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison), that a former President (Donald Trump) is challenging the sitting President (Joe Biden).

A Supreme Court that seems hellbent on moving further to the Far Right on many constitutional matters, despite its tremendously low public opinion rating, making it the most right wing in a century.

A likelihood of new climate crises continuing, and unlikely that much will be done to deal with it, as many people around the nation and the world become victims.

A growing crisis on issues that divide the nation, including voting rights, abortion rights, gay and transgender rights, gun control, antisemitism, civil rights and ethnic and racial minorities, immigration reform, political chaos in Congress, and growing religious extremism, among others.

A world crisis of war in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, with the potential for greater US involvement, and the constantly growing threat of China, North Korea, Iran, and other autocracies, along with the Russian threat to the stability of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, with the continuing war in Ukraine.

Republicans Refuse To Deal With Climate Change, Despite Heat Records Being Set!

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The nation and the world are facing the greatest Global Warming and Climate Change crisis yet, with the entire globe having the hottest week and month in recorded history!

This is causing fires in Canada; floods in New England; horrendous triple digit temperatures in much of the Southern and Western states; and equally alarming conditions in Europe and the rest of the world at large!

But any thought of limiting oil and gas and coal production; and taking any action to promote alternative energy policies is receiving deaf ears from Republicans in Congress, and right wing conservatives have no concern about the health dangers to millions of Americans, and will not cooperate on any joint action with Democrats.

If nations worldwide, and the nation from within cannot accept the need for extreme actions, then the whole planet, and American national security is facing an existential threat!

Hurricane Ian Reminds Us Of Climate Change, And Momentarily Unites Americans!

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The disaster of Hurricane Ian, a massive, historic hurricane hitting the west coast of Florida as I write, is an excellent reminder of Climate Change, even though Republicans continue to deny it, and work against finding solutions.

This author and blogger lives on the east coast of Florida in Boca Raton, and we have been spared the direct hit, but it is pure luck and coincidence, and anyone living in Florida has to face the reality of the dangers of hurricanes and climate change!

The damage that will be wrought by this monster hurricane, with more than 150 MPH winds and massive flooding, will require cooperation between the state government of Florida, under Ron DeSantis, and the Democratic Presidency of Joe Biden.

DeSantis will have to stop partisanship and acknowledge federal help, which is already forthcoming, and it seems already is acting appropriately, appreciative that Biden is having no limits in what he will promote for the survival and stability of millions of people!

But the issue of hurricanes will not go away, even after this tragedy, and it is time for politicians to stop their games of climate change denial, and acknowledge climate change is real and getting worse by the year, and cooperate to cope with it in the next decades, as the situation will not improve without willingness to overcome party politics!

Growing Migrant Crisis In America And Worldwide

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With the growing climate change crisis worldwide, and the mistreatment of migrants, based on religion, race, and ethnicity, the world faces a massive crisis.

Not only in America with the Republican party do we have nativism rearing its ugly head, but also all over the globe, as migrants wish to escape horrendous economic and climate conditions and persecution in their homelands.

Men, women, and children are being rejected at borders after dangerous migrations, and also at sea, and the crisis will only grow in future years.

The idea that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott are showing disrespect toward migrants from left wing dictatorships, including Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and using them as political props is shocking and reprehensible!

This is a spiritual and moral crisis of massive proportions in Europe and worldwide, and reminds us of the crisis of Jews in Europe and antisemitism in World War II. The conflicts going on today in many nations, with politicians exploiting hatred and division, is very disturbing!

And now, the rise of Giorgia Meloni as the first woman Prime Minister in Italy, promoting the Fascism of former dictator Benito Mussolini, is yet another sign of the dangers facing migrants. The idea that exactly a hundred years after the rise of Mussolini and the Fascist Movement, we are seeing Fascism come to power again, is shocking.

And the fact that the Republican Party and Donald Trump are clearly Fascist oriented, and wish to promote authoritarian government, is a sign that much of the history of the first half of the 20th century may be repeating itself.

American democracy and worldwide democracy is in crisis, and basic decency and humanity is under attack!

Extremism On Both Sides Lurks In Upcoming Midterm Congressional Elections!

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It is very sad and troubling that extremism on both sides lurks in the upcoming midterm Congressional elections.

It is much more so on the Republican side, but some Democrats are also clearly not willing to cross the aisle, and that means nasty days ahead, probably worse than now, as the nation moves closer to the possibility of inability of Congress to get anything done, despite the multitude of problems, including:

COVID 19 Pandemic
Climate Change
Escalating Crime
Mental Health Crisis
Protection of Civil Rights
Protection of Women’s Rights
Protection Of Gay Rights
Threat of Russia Against Ukraine
Threat of China Against Taiwan
Threat of Middle East War Between Israel and Iran

and many other problems and issues!

Joe Biden And Infrastructure: Showing Proof Of Bipartisanship, But Also “Reconciliation” Tactic Being Used

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This is a defining moment on the issue of infrastructure, as it appears that enough Republican Senators have agreed to back a $1 trillion plan on roads, bridges, railways, and broadband.

Clearly, the disaster in Surfside, Florida, where a condominium building collapsed, causing a major loss of life, and demonstrating the danger of global warming on buildings near waterways and coast lines, makes infrastructure projects, long needed, an urgent matter.

But additionally, there is a need for spending on “human infrastructure”, including child care, education, and health care, part of Joe Biden’s American Families Plan, which few if any Republicans will support.

So clearly Budget “Reconciliation”, where the 50 Democratic Senators plus Vice President Kamala Harris together will be enough to pass such larger spending priorities.

Certainly, the bipartisan deal is essential, but the Human “Infrastructure” in some form of legislation, is essential.

Political maneuvering and some compromises will be unavoidable to keep all Democrats in support of the broader legislation in some form.

First Joint Interview Of Joe Biden And Kamala Harris, With Jake Tapper Of CNN, A Homerun!

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The first joint interview of President Elect Joe Biden and Vice President Elect Kamala Harris occurred on Thursday evening, with Jake Tapper on CNN.

Both Biden and Harris came across as fully engaged and planning for rapid action on four issues, in the First Hundred Days.

These are the COVID 19 Pandemic; the Second Great Depression, worst since the 1930s Great Depression; the Racial Crisis in America; and the Climate Change Crisis, which threatens the planet.

It was wonderful to see their smiles, kind faces, and the sense of empathy and competence that they both have displayed all of their political lives!

What a change from the monstrous Trump Presidency, and waiting out the 47 days to Inauguration Day on January 20 feels like an eternity!

Joe Biden Finally Able To Move Ahead And To Select A Talented Team Of Cabinet Advisors

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Joe Biden has hit the ground running, officially selecting today a group of seven talent Cabinet advisors to cope with foreign policy, economic policy, homeland security and intelligence matters, and with the crisis of climate change.

Anthony Blinken will be Secretary of State; Janet Yellen will be Secretary of the Treasury; Alejandro Mayorkas will be Secretary of Homeland Security; Linda Thomas-Greenfield will be US Ambassador to the United Nations; Avril Haines will be Director of National Intelligence; Jake Sullivan will be National Security Adviser; and former Senator, 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee, and Obama Secretary of State in the second term John Kerry as Climate Czar to deal with the climate change crisis.

These are all experienced in their fields, and have worked in the government for decades, and they are all decent, honorable people who wish to do a job to promote recovery of the nation from the multiple crises it faces as Joe Biden gets ready to take the oath of office as the 46th President of the United States.

The group includes three women; a Cuban immigrant; an African American woman; two Jews; and age wise, they range from the 40s to the late 70s.

Any decent person can feel a sense of satisfaction already, and there are still many other appointments to come!