What the American public wants in the theater is a tragedy with a happy ending.
- William D. Howells
The climate crisis is one of the most insidious problems of our time, and there’s a reason we’re struggling to address it.
This isn’t just a matter of policy or technology; it’s a deep-rooted conflict of interests and priorities. The systems we’ve built under capitalism—our economic frameworks, our decision-making structures—are more powerful than our concerns about the climate.
This is the real problem: no single solution will work because the interests aligned against meaningful action are overwhelming.
Take, for instance, the factory owner who might have an eco-conscious mind but still needs to generate enough returns for shareholders. No matter how green her intentions, if she doesn’t satisfy those shareholders, she won’t have the power to make sustainable choices.
And politicians? They’re bound by election cycles. For them, any environmental decision carries weight only as far as the next election—and not a day further.
Ordinary citizens, too, find themselves torn. We’re not just members of a global society; we’re workers, consumers, and individuals first and foremost. Yes, we might care about the climate, but we also benefit from the profits of the current system, even if it exploits resources unsustainably.
So, here we are: a society collectively reaping the gains but individually reluctant to bear the cost of a damaged planet.
And then, there’s the GOP—a political entity that might as well be actively opposed to environmental progress. Sound science confirms that we need to limit pollutants like mercury to protect children and vulnerable communities from toxic air. But with recent decisions, it's become clear that environmental neglect and even, one might argue, "environmental terrorism" are part of their playbook.
The so-called “pro-life” stance evaporates in the face of policies that allow pollution to compromise people’s health and lives.
The Supreme Court's recent rejection of the Chevron doctrine is a stark example of the courts aligning with powerful corporate interests at the expense of the average citizen.
The doctrine used to give agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the flexibility to interpret ambiguous laws in favor of protecting the public.
Now, judges—who are no environmental experts—have stripped the EPA of vital regulatory authority, leaving corporations freer to pollute.
This abandonment has made the looming environmental catastrophe all the more likely. And while Congress could theoretically fix these issues, the reality is that partisan gridlock has neutered it as a reliable avenue for meaningful change.
In the past two terms alone, the Supreme Court has gutted the EPA’s power to address climate change and water pollution. Consider the recent ruling on cross-state air pollution, in which a 5-4 majority decided to leave Eastern states vulnerable to pollution from industrialized regions in the West.
This pollution brings devastating consequences, from smog to respiratory issues and even premature death. The party responsible doesn’t care—and why should they? Their allegiance is to ideology, not reality, and they openly dismiss scientific data that contradicts their worldview.
To understand this resistance, we need only look back at figures like the late Senator James Inhofe.
His infamous 2015 snowball stunt in Congress, presented as “proof” that global warming is a myth, was nothing short of anti-science absurdity.
Even then-President Obama couldn’t help but ridicule the moment. But Inhofe’s remarks reveal a deeper problem: his belief that humans are powerless to affect God’s creation, that climate change is beyond our control.
This dangerous ideology fuels the GOP’s resistance to environmental protections. If they refuse to acknowledge the crisis, then data, evidence, and human health are nothing more than inconveniences.
So here we are, facing an environmental abyss with one party choosing willful ignorance over hard reality.
Accurate data and scientific truth mean nothing to those who refuse to see beyond their narrow worldview.
The power to change our path lies with each of us, but it’s a choice we all must make—and the stakes have never been higher.
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