Websites hosting major US climate reports taken down

i think what contributes the most to my sense of dread is the feeling that if you were to tell these decision makers in govt right now "but this'll kill people!" they'd respond "good"

They don't care about people. Senator Joni Ernst when told that people would die due from the spending bill responded with, "Well, we are all going to die."

And then doubled down with a later Instagram post making fun of everyone. How are these people our elected officials? It’s unbelievable.

> How are these people our elected officials? It’s unbelievable.

Because they know that the vast majority of people advocating for climate change to be a high priority issue is because they want to use that to slow down capitalism - the system that made the US the country they love.

I never hear growth-minded solutions for climate change: Let's get rich enough so everyone (even European hotels) can afford AC? Drug companies make enough money so even poor Africans can afford medicines and theraputics? Deregulate the solar industry? Reduce regulatory barriers for autonomous vehicles? Fast track nuclear power? Stop the fight against ride-sharing?

If the problem was climate change & it was a severe existential issue, I'd assume you'd support all of the above?

> the vast majority of people advocating for climate change to be a high priority issue is because they want to use that to slow down capitalism

I feel like that's something you want to believe so that you can dismiss legitimate concerns about environmental destruction.

Because that's like saying capitalists want to grow the economy faster to destroy the environment. Which is obviously crazy and untrue.

I love capitalism. I'm also deeply concerned the way it's run currently will destroy the world my children will inherit. These aren't contradictory ideas. Why can't we capitalism better?

There is no other, better, more humane form of capitalism. Capitalism's only concern is the generation and control of capital by the capitalist class. It isn't that capitalists want to destroy the environment, it's that they don't care about the environment beyond it being a resource to be exploited and consumed. "Better capitalism" just means doing more of that exploitation faster and more efficiently.

I don't know what you love and call capitalism but I suspect you've been convinced that as a system it has some inherently moral dimension. It does not, and cannot. It's a paperclip maximizer, that's all.

> I don't know what you love and call capitalism

Private property and competitive free markets. I just don't like where they end up. I think they need a firm hand to keep from turning into a paperclip maximizer. Maybe that's impossible, but we can't know until we really try.

It's not like other systems have a better track record on environmental protection. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea