linnposts.com

The degree to which today’s Republicans (with some exceptions) refuse to take facts seriously when they make decisions is not only stunning and disturbing. I think it is a scandalous truth that is threatening life now and life for future generations.

I realize that sounds both bold and partisan, but we need look no further than guns and climate change to see that it is actually an accurate description of what is going on. Let’s look at both.

When it comes to guns, we know the NRA is the driving force behind Republicans refusing to consider serious, but reasonable gun legislation. People who care about facts also know that virtually nothing the NRA says about the Second Amendment or efforts to enact gun laws is true.

That’s because everything they say is intended to make the case for their unfounded belief that any gun law is a bad law because even one can easily lead to gun ownership being banned altogether.

Nothing could be further from the truth. For one thing, we have had stricter gun laws in the past and no one has had their guns taken away, but it is also the case that an all out ban on guns has no chance of ever becoming law.

That doesn’t matter to the NRA, They prefer to repeat alarmist statements and make personal attacks on politicians who promote sensible gun laws.

Making matters worse, as false as NRA talking points on guns are, Republicans repeat them anyway. Makes you wonder if they care about truth at all.

Their attitude toward climate change is just as disturbing and dangerous as it is in regard to gun legislation.

The primary Greenhouse gases that account for the warming of the atmosphere are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapor, all natural to the environment.

Today there is incontrovertible evidence that emissions from human sources are causing the levels of these natural gases to increase to the point where serious damage is being done to the planet’s ecosystem.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), over the past 800,000 years, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have fluctuated between 180 parts per million (ppm) during ice ages to 280 ppm during warm interglacial periods.

That is now changing dramatically. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have risen by more than 40% since scientists first started recording these levels, rising from 280 ppm in 1958 to over 400ppm today.

To a lay person this may mean nothing, but to climate scientists these facts are like an unmistakable warning that the damage we are doing is having severe consequences already, and may soon be irreversible, if it has not already reached that point.

But you don’t have to be a climate scientist to be alarmed. The frequency of extreme weather patterns we are seeing should be like the canary in the coal mine warning us that we are in a very dangerous situation.

The Arctic just finished its warmest winter on record, and the amount of sea ice hit record lows for this time of year. Scientists say what’s happening is unprecedented, part of a global warming-driven vicious cycle that is producing extreme weather patterns.

The land weather station closest to the North Pole spent more than 60 hours above freezing in February, again unprecedented. In fact, a week before Christmas temperatures at the North Pole soared to freezing, some 50 to 60 degrees above normal for that time of the year.

Right here in Minnesota during the last week of February we had 10 straight days of daytime temperatures in the 40s and on a couple of nights the temperature did not go below freezing.

Two nights ago we had a thunderstorm with rain and high winds followed by a major snow storm during the day. Other parts of the world are having to cope with catastrophic events of weather changes, all due to global warming.

The sources for what we are doing to increase global warming that produces climate change are no secret: Power plant emissions, human caused deforestation, car and truck emissions, jet planes, fossil fuel retrievable processes, land use and biofuels burning, and numerous others.

Yet, Donald Trump and EPA Director Scott Pruitt and most Republicans in Congress don’t believe any of these things are facts, or, of they are, actually matter.

It’s no wonder that 85% of Republican voters support Donald Trump, and, as I noted a few weeks ago, 72% of them believe he is a good role model for children.

When facts don’t count, you can believe whatever you want to and not worry about the consequences.

There is a glimmer of light in this darkness in that a few Republican leaders like Norm Ornstein and journalists like David Brooks are openly criticizing their Party for refusing to deal with facts.

The bad news is that thus far Republican Congressional leaders have shown no indication of changing their ways, and Donald Trump does not seem capable of taking facts seriously when it comes to anything. If I am reading the situation incorrectly, I welcome someone explaining how I am.

Until then, I believe the most critical question our nation is facing is this: “Why would anyone who cares about facts entrust the future of the country to people who don’t.”

The up-coming mid-term elections will be a chance for all of us to give our answer.

I can only hope voters will make it unequivocally clear that facts do matter and that there are consequences for politicians who say they don’t.