Today, The Atlantic has a discussion of the Democrats' effort regarding a climate bill.
First things first. I voted a straight Democratic ticket this past election. I don't normally vote straight tickets, but in 2020, that was necessary. The Trump position on the pandemic was intolerable because it was everything NOT to do to respond to a pandemic. Republican positions ranged from actual denial of the existence of the coronavirus to an embrace of the anti-vaxxer movement. The current consequence of these positions is grave - full hospitals that occasionally have to turn away the victims of car crashes. A friend told me about a situation in Texas where a car crash happened and the victims had to be airlifted across the state rather than be brought to a nearby hospital.
I'm no physicist, chemist or engineer. I'm just a lowly person with a biological science background. Yet, for me, it was necessary to take a strong, forward stance against anti-science positions that are so prominent in politics today, especially on the Republican side with regard to the pandemic, vaccines, etc.
Although the Democrats have been doing great regarding efforts to get people vaccinated, they are not immune to anti-science positions in other fields, such as energy. These positions create stumbling blocks to effective action on climate.
Michael Grunwald of Politico notes that "There’s also broad political support for nuclear power and carbon capture, which are both consistent with a zero-emissions grid ..."
However, Robinson Meyer at The Atlantic notes that there is opposition to a climate deal from the Right of the Democratic Party, especially coal supporter Joe Manchin and fossil fuel supporter Kyrsten Sinema. And, there is opposition to effective action on climate change from a Left fringe that will only accept solar, wind, and geothermal. Those extremes are anti-science because, on the Right, they deny the need to remove coal as a source of energy to protect the climate, and, on the Left, they deny the need for energy sources like nuclear to produce enough electricity for humanity to survive.
The Right and Left extremes among the Democrats are putting a boulder in the road toward effective action toward climate action.
