Dear Editor,

Supposedly, one of the reasons that the election was narrowly won by Trump was the cost of living including gas, rent, and grocery prices. Suddenly, we are focused on a narrow agenda mandating “Drill baby drill,” even though the US produces more oil and gas than any other nation by far (nearly double that of Saudi Arabia, the 2nd leading producer), and the evidence that the earth is warming and drying is conclusive.

A Forbes Magazine article dated January 31, 2025, states, “A comprehensive survey conducted by Cornell University in 2021 analyzed 88,125 climate-related studies published between 2012 and 2020. The findings revealed that over 99.9% of these peer-reviewed papers concluded that human activities are the primary drivers of recent climate change. This overwhelming consensus underscores the significant role of anthropogenic factors in altering Earth’s climate.”

As the cartoon character Pogo once said, “We have seen the enemy and they is us.”  

The article continues, “The Earth is now approximately 1.2°C hotter than pre-industrial levels according to NASA. (Other studies show hotter mean temperatures.)The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change findings indicate that human activities, primarily fossil fuel combustion, are responsible for nearly all warming over the past 200 years. Data from the US Environmental Protection Agency further corroborates that carbon dioxide levels are at their highest in 2 million years, while methane and nitrous oxide concentrations have reached levels unseen in 800,000 years.”

That is why the Biden initiatives to slowly transition to renewable energy, moderate as they were, are important. Trump called them leftist and dangerous. But he lives in an air-conditioned bubble. And those surrounding him want to squeeze every last nickel out of fossil fuel extraction. We are at an inflection point. 

An article By Mathew Rozsa, a historian and science writer, states: “These are more than just ominous statistics — this extreme heat has translated into countless examples of real-world “weird weather” including unprecedented heat waves, wildfires, floods and extreme storms across the globe…Meanwhile, we’re burning record amounts of fossil fuels, accelerating the crisis, all while world leaders like President Donald Trump deny and ignore climate science, even falsely claiming America has a ‘national energy emergency’ which requires more drilling.”

The EPA report says if Earth’s temperature rises 2°C, that could expose over 2 billion people to extreme heat, double biodiversity losses compared to 1.5°C, slash crop yields by more than 50% in some regions, and lead to the near-total collapse of coral reefs, which support marine life and coastal economies in addition to the loss of islands due to sea level rise.”

Are we ready for more climate refugees? The scientific consensus is clear: climate change is not a distant threat—it is happening now, and its effects are worsening. To me, this very warm start of February is unnerving.  

Meanwhile, Trump has promoted climate denial in his administration. On January 27, the Environmental Protection Agency quietly removed all information about climate change from its homepage and other prominent areas of its website.

Two days later, the Republican Senate confirmed Trump nominee to lead the EPA, Lee Zeldin (R-NY) who has pledged to slash EPA funding, roll back environmental protections, and promote more fossil fuel production. Zeldin has historically voted against dozens of climate protection bills, opposing methane emission controls, bills to strengthen the Clean Air Act (passed by Nixon), and efforts to boost climate resiliency. According to nonprofit campaign finance tracker Open Secrets, Zeldin received roughly $270,000 from oil and gas interests since he first ran for federal office in 2008. The fox is guarding the hen house. 

During the latest election campaign, Trump met with heads of the major oil companies and told them that if they donated $1 billion to his campaign, he would reverse all the Biden clean energy initiatives and any limitations on oil and gas production. Is this not evidence of corruption? Nope. That’s the new normal.

I was moved by an article about a year ago in which a workman in the middle east began work in the dark wee hours of the morning and quit at 10 am when it was too hot to work, and the ambient temperature even at night never got below 90 degrees, ever.   

Republicans have their heads in the sand, thinking only of the next election and holding power so they can make more money. How much money is "enough" when the earth is baking, and millions are on the move because they can no longer live in their former homelands? 

Bill Thibedeau

Gilpin County