Earth Day 2024: The clock is ticking as the planet takes a licking 

Earth Day on April 22 will be an occasion to celebrate the beauty of nature. But the sweet call of nature might be drowned out by the shrill cries of “drill, baby, drill,” President Biden will trumpet his strong environmental record, honor his legacy and roll out the green carpet for the event. Republicans will just walk away.  

The celebration of the 54th anniversary is a day of reckoning for the planet that we call home. At least until Elon Musk makes his space vehicle into mass transit. Hopefully, he will have an easier time with that enterprise than he did reviving X. He needs to get cracking before hell freezes over and Miami is underwater. 

Abnormal weather is the new meteorological normal at home and abroad. Every day is an extreme weather day somewhere. 

If you are one of the hardy souls here in the United States who are brave enough to watch the nightly carnage on the network news, you’re acutely aware of the death and devastation wrought by erratic climate driven weather patterns.

You’re certain to see a story about torrential rain and flooding on the East and West coasts, tornadoes in the Mid-South and April blizzards in the Midwest and the Rocky Mountains. You will occasionally get warnings about the link between climate change and extreme weather, but not often enough.  

The crisis is even worse Internationally. Drought in Sub-Saharan Africa have brought thousands of famine deaths. Flash floods in the United Arab Emirates just halted flights at Dubai International Airport, the busiest in the world. Small islands in the Pacific are slowly sinking into the deep blue sea.  

In 2021, the Pentagon warned that climate change is a national security risk. Flooding of islands in the Pacific has restricted the activities of military operations designed to deter Chinese aggression. Droughts in South and Central America have destroyed agriculture and led to mass migrations north into the United States.

The clock is ticking and the planet is taking a licking. The annual day of environmental awareness traditionally comes with grave warnings from climate scientists who sound the alarm about the fragility of the planet. 

The economy looms larger than other problems during presidential campaigns. But the environment is an economic issue. The South suffers the worst damage but most of their elected representatives are oblivious to the ongoing tragedy. 

Scientists and economists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) calculated that climate-driven weather disasters like hurricanes, floods and extreme heat cost Americans $165 billion in 2022. Yes, that’s billions with a “B.”  

Every environmental disaster movie begins with a warning from a scientist that big trouble is coming. If we ignore the warnings from the experts, science fiction will become science non-fiction. As the globe warms and the Arctic ice melts, the humanitarian suffering and economic damage will only get worse. 

Americans have heard the warnings. The Yale University Center for Climate Change Communication conducted a comprehensive national survey in October 2023.

The researchers found that a clear majority of the public believes climate change is real and is caused by humans. At least two in three people think climate change impacts extreme heat, wildfires, air pollution, water shortages, flooding and rising sea levels. 

Joe Biden and his party have responded to public concerns about the climate crisis while Donald Trump and the Republican Party have blissfully ignored them. 

As president, one of Biden’s first acts was to rejoin the Paris climate accord after Trump withdrew in 2017. The current president has aggressively enforced existing environmental laws and convinced a closely divided Congress to pass new legislation that will intensify the long struggle to protect the planet. These actions may well be the lasting legacy of Biden’s visionary presidency.

Planet Earth is on life support but Trump and the climate deniers in his orbit want to pull the plug.  

The GOP response to the climate emergency and the Biden administration’s stellar record of environmental action is “don’t worry be happy.”  

The Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Project, the inaction blueprint for a second Trump term would ease regulations and reverse the progress that President Biden made in his first term. 

Both Trump and Richard Nixon were deeply flawed Republican presidents. But give the devil his due. The first wave of environmental laws, including the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, happened while Nixon was president. Under Trump, his party has abandoned the fight to combat climate change in order to protect the big oil and big power companies that fuel the party’s war chest. 

Trump’s trials and tribulations and questions about Biden’s age dominate coverage of the 2024 campaign. But the news of the day doesn’t make existential problems go away. We can spend the moral and financial capital now to save the environment or our children and grandchildren will pay the price later.

Brad Bannon is a Democratic pollster and the veteran of many environmental campaigns. He hosts the progressive podcast on power, politics and policy, Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon.