A threat to your home, health, and independence should be of the utmost importance to your government.
Climate change is persona non grata in the new regime’s federal lexicon, but that doesn’t make the consequences any less real or severe. One mistake often made by my colleagues in the scientific world is that they can often turn rather aggressive towards those who doubt climate change. While I’m certainly not happy to see that many MAGA folks deny its existence, animosity is not the path forward. Instead, I often try to find common ground with climate change deniers and show them how our concerns over climate change can fit into their world. To paraphrase the brilliant words of Dr. Chris Reddy; you have to connect with folks through their wallet or their stomach.
If any of you are scientists I highly recommend you read this book on how to better communicate your science to the public!
Climate Change Isn’t Leftist Propaganda, It’s A Threat To Our Nation’s Security
One thing that motivates many folks on the right side of the political spectrum is national defense. Defense against terrorism, illegal immigrants, foreign influence/powers (like China), and similar threats. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with caring about your country’s defense from harm. I just think that folks don’t realize that climate change is something that should be on that list!
Climate change directly threatens the homes, businesses, health, and overall independence of many Americans across vast swaths of the country. It threatens your water supply, our ability to grow our own food, it can flood your home, place of business, or employer. All of it is a threat to our country’s stability and people’s way of life. It’s that simple.
Think of it this way:
Don’t you believe your government should help defend you from terror attacks or invasion by a foreign army? Well wouldn’t it also be nice if they defended you from running out of water? Or defended your town from being overrun by a hurricane and its flood waters? How are those two things fundamentally different? If they can take action to curb emissions and clean up our environment, they can help global efforts to minimize the severity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as drought or hurricanes. It seems so silly when you say it like that, but at its most simple form, that’s all climate change is. It’s another threat that exists out there and we need to make sure our government does their job to insulate us from it.
If you own or work at a coastal restaurant, how would your life change if folks didn’t dine and visit anymore because the beaches are washed away? Or because the restaurant is flooded, damaged, or washed to sea? That is a threat to your income and your way of life!
What if there are not enough fish or shrimp in the sea for you to harvest and sell? What if the amount of fish you catch continues to decrease year after year?
What if Arizona runs out of water? You see where I’m going here….
The main point is that I believe scientists and folks shouldn’t be fear mongers, but we must stress that efforts to combat climate change are a matter of national security. We all want Americans to be able to pursue a happy and healthy life. Folks need jobs, homes, communities, and natural resources to do so. Any threat to those core tenets of our life is a threat to the greater American nation and the “American Dream”. So in the opinion of this oceanographer, we should start responsibly coordinating our efforts to convey that message through a new lens.
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