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Zorro

(15,740 posts)
Tue Jun 29, 2021, 07:17 PM Jun 2021

The country is on fire, and the biggest obstacle to action is the GOP

In the Pacific Northwest, where high temperatures this time of year are usually in the 70s, residents who never had much need for air conditioning are suffering through an almost apocalyptic heat wave: On Monday it reached 107 in Seattle, 115 in Portland, Ore., and 117 in Salem, Ore.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, D.C., members of both parties came together to hammer out a bipartisan infrastructure deal. But to get Republicans to agree to it, President Biden and the Democrats had to set aside almost everything they have proposed to do about climate change.

That’s about as clear a summation of American climate politics in 2021 as you could ask for: the effects of climate change becoming more vivid all the time, Democrats eager to move aggressively on the crisis, and the Republican Party working hard to make sure the federal government does as little as possible.

That isn’t to say that the politics are simple. Not every Republican is a deranged climate denier bringing snowballs to the Senate floor to try to prove that climate change is a hoax. The GOP has a diversity of opinion on climate. But while some individual Republicans want to do something, they butt up against a party consensus that emphatically rejects meaningful action, and incentives that push ambitious members of their party toward the most retrograde positions.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/29/country-is-fire-biggest-obstacle-action-is-gop/

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The country is on fire, and the biggest obstacle to action is the GOP (Original Post) Zorro Jun 2021 OP
Why do we wait on them? onecaliberal Jun 2021 #1
We have all three branches. jimfields33 Jun 2021 #4
We're only in control if we keep our side in line, and if we choose to take charge. lagomorph777 Jun 2021 #5
Name any real problem facing this country, and the GOP will be standing in the way ... 11 Bravo Jun 2021 #2
They're holding the matches, and the gasoline. But they're soaked in it. (Nt) FreepFryer Jun 2021 #3
Kill the planet CanonRay Jun 2021 #6
"Not every Republican is a climate denier" TheFarseer Jun 2021 #7
Exactly. Let's not kid ourselves. They talk like cowards, not moderate Republicans. ancianita Jun 2021 #8
But every climate denier is a Republican RainCaster Jul 2021 #9

lagomorph777

(30,613 posts)
5. We're only in control if we keep our side in line, and if we choose to take charge.
Tue Jun 29, 2021, 07:56 PM
Jun 2021

We don't seem to be doing either of those things at the moment.

11 Bravo

(23,926 posts)
2. Name any real problem facing this country, and the GOP will be standing in the way ...
Tue Jun 29, 2021, 07:24 PM
Jun 2021

of addressing it.

It's what they do.

TheFarseer

(9,322 posts)
7. "Not every Republican is a climate denier"
Wed Jun 30, 2021, 12:38 PM
Jun 2021

I’m not sure I’ve ever met a Republican that wanted action on Climate Change.

ancianita

(36,055 posts)
8. Exactly. Let's not kid ourselves. They talk like cowards, not moderate Republicans.
Wed Jun 30, 2021, 02:00 PM
Jun 2021

I've never met one either who isn't a lockstep follower of their platform, which is a person.

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