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It’s not too late to change the climate picture
Raging fires and extreme temperatures in the West plus rising sea levels impacting the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico and a hyperactive hurricane season in the Atlantic basin are enough to make a sane observer wonder if we’ve tipped over the climate edge.
We have, but in a good way. That might seem like so much whistling past the graveyard on a moonless night. But climate now has our attention and we can begin to take action.
Americans have often waited for the worst to happen before mobilizing to combat a mortal threat and this time is no different. It’s not a flaw in ourselves or our culture; believe it or not it’s a feature of democracy.
Fifty-one percent is the minimum needed to take power in a democracy but in most, and America falls into this category, big minorities can make a lot of noise and disrupt the majority’s well laid plans. You only have to look at the US Senate where any member regardless of party can filibuster an idea to death. Sixty votes is the required minimum for ending a filibuster and when proponents of a measure can’t raise this super majority, a proposal, a bill dies.
Because direct action by the US in a large range of issues starts with a bill that passes both houses of Congress before hitting the president’s desk (where it could be vetoed), it takes much…
