The peril of climate denial: Michael Reiling

On March 7, several reporters at The New York Times reported their word search through thousands of pages from federal agencies in the new Trump/Vance administration. They were looking for recent changes in terminology usage. Among removed terms or those to be used with caution, the reporters noted the terms “clean energy,” “climate crisis” and “climate science.”

The Trump/Vance administration is aggressively pushing more fossil fuel extraction for both domestic and foreign consumption. It is “Drill, Baby, Drill” time. President Donald Trump has called climate change ”a hoax,” and attacked green energy development efforts as a scam. Cabinet appointees who deal with energy and land policies have endorsed this view.

In their language use, federal agencies are now dutifully complying. In lockstep, investors, banks, and large energy corporations are now retreating in their engagement with funding clean and green energy projects.

This is most unfortunate for all of us and for life on our planet. Climate science informs us that nearly all global average temperatures of the past 15 years have set records for temperature rise. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that this rise is due primarily to the burning of fossil fuels.

The Paris Accords of 2015, signed by almost all nations, committed those countries to enact policies to keep the planet’s warming below a 1.5 Celsius temperature rise from the beginnings of the modern industrial age. While there have been positive steps to implement the Paris Accords, it has not been enough.

In 2024, we sadly hit that 1.5 threshold on our planet. We already have storms and fires that are more frequent and powerful than in the past. We have heat and “wet bulb” temperature increases that are making more areas of our earth uninhabitable. The Trump/Vance administration policies will contribute to rising temperatures, pushing planet life towards more dangerous alterations. Scientist Neil de Grasse Tyson warns that we are living in a “new normal.” We can expect the weather events of recent years to continue – and worsen.

According to the Yale Climate Communications Program, 73% of Americans think global warming is happening, and 60% of Americans believe it is human-caused. A large majority of over 70% think global warming is affecting the extreme heat, wildfires, droughts, flooding, rising sea levels and hurricanes. But what we are getting from our government is denial, as well as silence.

The Trump/Vance administration, at best, seems to see climate change as a minor phenomenon, not worth any attention, or as fearmongering pushed by climate catastrophe extremists to promote fear and confusion, and their own incomes. Regarding the 97% of climate scientists who believe global warming is real and caused by our burning fossil fuels, does the administration really think all these scientists profit handsomely from their gloomy warnings or that they enjoy spreading fear? Do they really think scientists just want to sabotage economic progress?

Climate-warming danger is real. Repeat that to yourself often. It is not a lie. It is science. Our new administration does not think so. What many members of Congress, particularly Republicans, think is unclear. It would be a heartening move for our two new U.S. senators from Ohio to acknowledge the climate-reality scientific consensus. and then engage in responsible policies accordingly.

We cannot “make the climate great again,” but we can protect what we now have by working at a variety of proposals for action that take the warming seriously. If we don’t, we leave to our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren a more dangerous and destabilized world.

Michael Reiling is a climate-conscious citizen and activist living in Cleveland.

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