If the politics of inaction and delay that have triumphed in this country continues for another decade, then Planetary Purgatory in the likely future facing our country before midcentury - probably in your own lifetime. Joseph J. Romm More Quotes by Joseph J. Romm More Quotes From Joseph J. Romm Conservatives... are so opposed to government regulations that they are skeptical of anyone who identifies a problem that requires regulatory solutions - and they are inherently accepting of those who downplay such problems. Joseph J. Romm regulation climate government We have been getting rich by depleting all our natural stocks - water, hydrocarbons, forests, rivers, fish and arable land - and not by generating renewable flows. Joseph J. Romm land rivers water Ideology trumps rationality. Most conservatives cannot abide the solution to global warming - strong government regulations and a government-led effort to accelerate clean-energy technologies in the market. Joseph J. Romm technology government strong On moral grounds, I think that if you believe a certain outcome is a very possible outcome, you have an obligation to tell people that. With global warming, the probability of a bad outcome if we stay on our current emission trends is incredibly high. If you know a bad outcome is likely to happen, what right do you have not to communicate that? You go into a doctor's office, what are they going to do - not tell you the diagnosis? Joseph J. Romm doctors believe thinking If our government won't spend the money to protect New Orleans sufficiently today, what are the chances we will spend the money to protect dozens of coastal cities post-2050, once everyone knows that sea levels will keep rising and intense hurricanes will occur relentlessly? Joseph J. Romm new-orleans government sea Bush and Inhofe will go down in history with other leaders such as Herbert Hoover and Neville Chamberlain who were blind to their nation's gravest threats. Joseph J. Romm climate blind leader In 2003... the White House conspired with an oil-company funded think tank to block a major government scientific report that sought to spell out the dangers of climate change to Americans. Joseph J. Romm block government thinking I've always believed that you should stick as closely to the science as possible. And my biggest advice to reporters has been, if you're doing a climate story, talk to climate scientists. The best climate stories are done by the people who talk to climate scientists. Joseph J. Romm climate advice people Conservative Denyers and Delayers are the main reason America lacks the consensus and the political will to take up the fight against catastrophic climate change. Joseph J. Romm political-will fighting america In 2005... Mumbai, India, saw that country's most intense recorded instance of rainfall - 3 feet of rain in twenty-four hours. Joseph J. Romm feet rain country Much of the scientific community has been astonished that their increasingly strong and detailed warnings have been either ignored or attacked. Joseph J. Romm climate community strong On our current path, all our great Gulf and Atlantic coast cities are at risk of meeting the same fate as New Orleans. Joseph J. Romm fate new-orleans cities Replacing half of the U.S. ground-transport fuels with hydrogen from wind power by 2050, for example, might require 1,400 gigawatts of advanced wind turbines or more... replacing those fuels with electricity might require less than 400 GW. Joseph J. Romm climate example wind If Americans in 2100 came to see 12 meters sea-level rise as inevitable by 2200, who can even begin to fathom how the nation would respond? Joseph J. Romm climate levels sea Protecting dozens of major coastal cities from future flooding will be challenging enough-rebuilding major coastal cities destroyed by super-hurricanes will be an almost impossible task. Joseph J. Romm cities challenges weather The first few feet of sea-level rise alone will displace more than 100 million people worldwide and turn all our major Gulf and Atlantic coast cities into pre- Katrina New Orleans - below sea level and facing super-hurricanes. Joseph J. Romm new-orleans cities sea Hurricane seasons with four or more super-hurricanes, those with sustained wind speeds of 131 mph or more will soon become the norm. Joseph J. Romm mph climate wind The entire western Siberian sub-Arctic region is melting, and it has all happened in the last three or four years. Joseph J. Romm melting three years When people ask me what they should do, I reply, "Get informed, get outraged, and then get political." Joseph J. Romm climate political people You must become a climate champion, a single-issue voter. You must take whatever action you can. You must use whatever influence you have wherever it would make a difference, even if it is only to educate the people around you. Joseph J. Romm issues differences people
