Stark Contrasts - 328

Voting to Protect Holy Ground

In 2019 I was given a button at a church service before the children's climate march in New York. It says, "You are Standing on Holy Ground, Act Like It." Are you a person who respects our planetary home? If so, now is your best chance to show our planet some love.

If you have strong feelings for Mother Earth, you are not alone. Many people are justifiably worried because global warming is our greatest threat. A recent Pew survey shows 60% of U.S. adults are concerned about climate change, with 74% of our citizenry willing to modify their lifestyles to address it.

There are stark differences in the positions and personal histories of the presidential candidates. Harris dedicated her life to law and order, while Trump is a convicted criminal. Harris was a prosecuting attorney and attorney general in public service. Trump is a billionaire who brags about his business acumen and not paying taxes, who has defaulted on loans, failed to pay creditors, and declared bankruptcy six times. (Perhaps the new movie "The Apprentice" will shed some light on this.)

While these differences are concerning, I am most concerned about how we will power our nation. Will we work with other nations to save the climate, or will we turn our backs on future generations and continue to claim Climate Change is a hoax?

There is a moral, scientific, and economic case for us to lead on clean power. The United States has pumped more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than any country.

Harris has pledged to build on the Biden administration's clean energy investments. One link that needs to be included is a clean energy grid for success. We need to improve our electrical transmission lines to move power from remote wind and solar power generators to population centers where it is consumed. Powerlines may seem unfamiliar as a presidential debating point, but our nation has a fractured electrical transmission line system that needs to be upgraded to carry more power and strengthened against future storms.

If elected, Harris would likely employ one of the tools to push other nations to clean up: a carbon border tariff to penalize imported steel and cement manufacturers that burn excessive fossil fuels to make these products.

Harris, unlike Trump, will support the Environmental Protection Agency in its mission to keep harmful toxins out of our bodies. When Trump was president, he rolled back more than 100 environmental regulations, including limits on harmful pollutants from power plants and automobiles.

Trump does not consider climate change a problem. During his first term, He appointed people who deny climate science to key positions. He withdrew the United States from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which included nearly all nations on earth.

On a positive note, one of the signatories, the United Kingdom just closed its last coal-fired power plant.

Trump's allies have pledged not only to reverse the climate regulations but to also dismantle parts of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy by shuttering critical offices, relocating staff members, and then rewarding anti-science loyalists with crucial positions.

While the science community has warned us that even burning the currently accessible oil will destroy the planet as we know it, Trump has promised to grant permits to drill oil on public lands and waters. He has also promised preferential treatment to keep open coal power plants, which is the dirtiest way to power the grid. 

Trump also plans to end the clean-energy subsidies of 2022. Axing these subsidies would have severe consequences for our hoped-for copper mine. All clean energy solutions, like wind turbines, solar panels, modern nuclear plants, and new transmission lines, require copper. If the subsidies for our clean energy system are axed, the price of copper will fall, and so will any hope for the mine.

The Harris/Walz ticket will move us toward a new, clean, science-based economy.

The Trump/Vance, dirty energy mantra is "Drill Baby Drill." We have seen what happens. More burnt oil and coal emissions heat our planet.

When western forests heat, the sequel to "Drill Baby Drill" is "Burn Baby Burn."  When the oceans heat, they supersaturate hurricanes. The ugly new mantra for flooded communities like Ashville is "Swim Baby Swim."

The differences are stark. The consequences of this election are more important than any other. If you are a person who respects Creation, now is the time to step up and vote.

References worth consulting:

"Laudato Si" care of our common home by Pope Francis

The 16 years of climate articles by New York Times Journalist Lisa Friedman

Scientific American, September 16, "Vote for Kamala Harris to Support Science, Health, and the Environment."

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