I was sitting in Biology class this past week as we discussed the topics of biodiversity, pollution, overpopulation, and most importantly, climate change. Climate change was a huge topic brought up in the Democratic debates in the past few months, but not so much by the Republicans. However, to me, climate change should not be a measure of how conservative or liberal you are, everybody should understand the impact that it has on the world.
Climate change is real. For those people who don’t think it is, let me just give you a few little things that we discussed in our lab this week. A classmate raised her hand and asked the teacher if “the argument against climate change has any scientific relevance at all.” She was genuinely wondering whether or not climate change was real because of how much politicians discredit it. My teacher responded with something I have thought a lot about over the past election: money rules all.
Let’s mention Bernie Sanders just briefly. He promised to be a presidential candidate that refused to be funded by big companies and “the billionaires.” What were his thoughts on climate change? He said, “As the nation at last confronts global warming, it is no time for denial, greed, cynicism or pessimism” and that “we need to move boldly [because] the future of the planet is at stake.” He isn’t wrong. Regardless of whether or not you consider yourself to be a Democrat, there is no denying Bernie is stating the facts here. He is extremely adamant about implementing change.
Donald Trump also has a very strong view about climate change. He is the one who believes that climate change is “an expensive hoax” and that “we need global warming” during those cold temperatures. He says that the concept of global warming was “created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” What? However, Trump invoked the dangers of climate change when he was bidding to protect his golf course from the dangers of sea levels rising… Interesting.
Now, this is in no way a political article. What it demonstrates, however, is how money has a huge impact on climate change and the direction in which this world is headed. When we think of how to fix climate change we think, “oh, I should ride my bike instead of driving” and “oh, I can use my reusable bags at the supermarket” and “oh, I’ll take shorter showers and buy a Brita filter!” Those things are all great, but unless huge corporations and companies change their ways, nothing will happen.
The problem is that big companies are lobbying and throwing their support to candidates who they know will protect their business. Bernie Sanders was not funded by these companies, and he spoke the truth about climate change. Donald Trump quite frankly, is and represents all that is big companies, and he denies climate change exists. My teacher was definitely right. Money is a true motivator to blur the vision of truth. If Donald Trump wasn’t so blinded by dollar signs, maybe he would recognize the incredibly painful changes the Earth has gone through simply since the Industrial Revolution. Science facts and figures should not be able to be bought, and politicians and strong media influences should not by lying to the public just because they can afford to.
