Pirate's Cove

Once the Cult of Climastrology latches on to a good talking point they’ll turn it into dogma and never let go

‘When Texas freezes over’: Arctic conditions across the southern U.S. show climate change is here

Sometimes, it seems like certain politicians won’t support climate action until hell — or Texas — freezes over. Well, after last month’s storms, the climate threat is as clear as can be, and it’s time for Congress to act.

On Feb. 13, a winter storm began sweeping across the U.S. Within days, the frigid conditions and ensuing infrastructure challenges led to dozens of deaths, massive power outages, and millions without clean water. Texas came within minutes of catastrophic failures that would have caused months-long blackouts. Here in Iowa, the deep freeze was especially hard for livestock. On our farm, we had to feed our llamas high-energy food to ensure that they made it through the night. Every morning, we’d wake up and run to the barn to make sure they were OK. Then our water hydrant broke, so we carried buckets of water from the house to the barn in the dangerously cold temperatures. Our old farmhouse seethed cold air around every window and door, and home deliveries of food and other essentials were suspended for our entire rural area. It was a very tense time.

Um, winter gets pretty cold and snowy in Iowa (this credo comes from the Iowa City Press Citizen) in what is called “winter”. It always has, at least during the Holocene period, right? Good luck ranching, growing food, traveling anywhere in Iowa, heating homes, etc, without fossil fuels.

So why is this all happening? Typically, a strong jet stream keeps Arctic air locked over the poles. But as we see more variability in our climate and Arctic air warms, the jet stream weakens, gets wavy and allows frigid air to dip down into the lower latitudes.

And there’s the Cult talking point

There’s plenty to be said about modernizing America’s power grid, improving battery storage, and so on, to be better prepared for future extreme temperatures. But the root challenge is the same: We’re feeling the impact of climate change here and now, and we’re running out of time to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the problem. We must, therefore, use all the tools at our disposal to curtail those emissions.

Your fault!

One of the most effective tools is an ambitious price on carbon that will speed up the transition to a low- or zero-carbon economy. A carbon tax can quickly slash our emissions and save lives — plus, when designed right, it can actually pay people and benefit American business. Endorsements from the scientific community, businesses, economists and more show that this is the consensus solution.

I suggest we start with an ambitious carbon pricing scheme on newspapers which use lots of fossil fuels to gather and disseminate their news, along with all the energy to run websites. They’d be fine with that, right?

The extreme weather ravaging our nation should serve as a warning that our climate could one day be unbearable if we fail to take the actions necessary to rein in climate change. An effective price on carbon with money given to households can put us on the path to preserving a livable world.

See, greenhouse gases warm the Earth which makes it very cold and snowy which is making the world unlivable. Of course, the carbon taxes wouldn’t apply to those pushing them.