The Republican Cult Of Climate Change Denial

From the President's end- of- year press conference yesterday:

"Do I think that there's going to be lot of noise and campaigning next year about how [the GOP is] going to stop Paris in its tracks? There will probably be a lot of noise like that," Obama said. "The American Republican Party is the only major party that I can think of in the advanced world that effectively denies climate change."  (our emphasis)

Think about that truth for a moment.  The Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid/ Shooter's Party is the only major party in the advanced world that effectively denies climate change. In maintaining that position, they're blocking action that even (wait for it)... the oil companies (!) recognize needs to be taken:

"We believe the risks of climate change are real and those risks warrant constructive action by both policymakers and the business community,” as ExxonMobil Vice President Ken Cohen puts it, using words that none of the GOP frontrunners could bring himself to utter. ExxonMobil even advocates that a global carbon tax be placed on its own products as the most effective means of reducing greenhouse emissions, with all revenue generated by the tax used to reduce other forms of taxation.

Other major oil companies — including BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco — have also embraced the findings of climate science and voiced vocal support for the Paris climate-change agreement. Clearly, they too believe that the climate is warming to a dangerous degree, and that action must be taken to reduce the damage as much as possible.

Is it possible that small bore, nihilist Republicans have other reasons, beyond science skepticism and fossil fuel industry donations, to deny climate change and man's role in it?  Why, yes:  "It's Al Gore's fault Republicans have their heads up their asses!"   Of course if [Al Gore, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton] fight for something, we have to fight for the direct opposite!  Brilliant!

As Jay Bookman continues,

But hey, maybe all that data are mere coincidence and the Republicans are right. Maybe the governments of more than 190 countries are wrong, and the Republicans are right. Maybe the overwhelming majority of climate scientists are wrong, and the Republicans are right. Maybe the folks at ExxonMobil and BP and other major oil companies are wrong, and the Republicans are right. Maybe earlier generations of Republicans that proposed to address the threat of manmade climate change were wrong, and the modern GOP with its cult-like insistence on ideological conformity is right.

Maybe. But I don’t want to bet the planet I leave to my children and grandchildren on that unlikely event.  (our emphasis)

We would like to remind everyone who might be toying with the idea of voting Republican, but particularly GenXers and Millennials, that a vote for any Republican at any level, no matter how they weasel word their position, is a vote to block perhaps the last chance we have to prevent catastrophic, existential damage to our planet -- the planet you're inheriting from an older cohort that has, to this point, failed to get the job done.  In 2016, we have a chance together to get that existential job done.  It's about as clear and present a danger as we face today, and one on which the political lines are clearly drawn.  As it is said, you're either part of the solution or part of the problem.

BONUS:  Let's not forget Republican thought leader and Bible thumping Sen. "Snowball."