LETTER: The cost of gambling with our lives
August 3, 2024 | By Rick BoyleTo the Community:
Did it really have to come to disaster on such a widespread scale for folks to consider human-induced climate change to be real?
For many years the evidence and voices were there, and yet a hysterical defense from most Republicans along with some independents fought clear science-based evidence. These very vocal people preferred to gamble with our lives, and now (not surprisingly) we are paying the price.
Why have they fought so hard for so long against climate change science and measures to mitigate? Perhaps they fell in the pocket of big fossil fuel companies, either lured there, or unwittingly victimized with propaganda of misinformation and doubt.
Many proposed measures to take action to prevent climate change were not radical or drastic. They could have saved consumers money and created more jobs than could potentially be taken away — especially true here in Vermont. Instead, big fossil fuel companies have reaped record profits. ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, EOG Resources, and Schlumberger have raked in more than $250 billion in profits between 2021 and 2023. And yet, we suffer the inevitable consequences. Then we fight over taxes that are used to aid each other and build a healthier society.
The pathetically misleading argument against taking action to prevent climate change has always been that it would be too costly to humanity. Apparently, they didn't have the common sense to imagine the costs of not taking action.
So how's it feel folks? From volunteering to clean up mud and debris (again and again... and again), to use of your tax dollars (which is all anyone seems to care about these days), to lives sidelined or bankrupted, to historical and cultural landscapes being crushed, to permanent loss of environmental treasures, to time taken by municipalities and others to manage catastrophes, and so, so much more...
HOLD CLIMATE CHANGE DENIERS ACCOUNTABLE. VOTE for OUR future, not profits of fossil fuel companies, and not for those who gamble with our lives in such a cavalier manner.
Please voice your concerns in many ways. Get creative and forceful. Talk about this so we can work together.
Voting alone won't save us.
Rick Boyle
Waterbury