Green vs. Greed: Tackling Our Nation's Biggest Problems If The Price Is Right

Global Climate Change has been rightfully labeled the most pressing issue of our time.  Its effects are already showing up in places like the Middle East and South Asia.  It is a sign of hope too that, as of recent, 57% of Americans now say that climate change is caused by human beings.   Hallelujah, America is majorly in favor of action regarding the most pressing global issue of our time!  Something is bound to get done in terms of reversing the harmful effects of this already unfolding ecological, economic, and political disaster. Right? Wrong.  Remember after Sandy Hook when 90% of America supported common sense gun control measures and Congress didn’t pass a thing?  Well, this is kind of like that.  Americans could be 90% in support of action against climate change, and Congress still would not pass one single piece of legislation to help stop it.

The reason for this is that fossil fuel companies and big polluter industries have monstrous lobbying power in the U.S. government that dwarfs the NRA’s influence.  If anything is to be done about climate change, something must first be done about the corrupting influence of money in politics that has characterized the American political process for centuries.  If politicians can be made to see the actual consequences of hugely important issues affecting millions of Americans by looking past the fat cat holding a giant bag of dough, then we might yet be O.K.

And guess what? There is hope.  This presidential election is, in many ways, radically and fundamentally different from the way campaigns have turned out in the past.  For example, Jeb Bush raised an intimidating $100 million early in his campaign thanks in large part to a network of wealthy donors he inherited from his father, but he has struggled to get above 5 percent in the polls..  Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have raised tens of millions on primarily small donations from average voters, not millionaires and billionaires.

On the Republican side, the infamous climate change-denying Koch brothers have pledged almost 1 billion dollars in support of conservative, fellow climate-denying 2016 presidential candidates.  In the face of vast, intimidating political action networks and committees like the one orchestrated by the Koch’s, action on climate change will surely flop.  That is, unless Americans a) vote in 2016 and b) vote according to their conscience in 2016.  Upon first glance at the presidential field, it should be quite clear to American voters - especially the 57% of them who think climate change is an issue - which party is more interested in the American people and which party is more interested in itself.

A mind-boggling 14 candidates now make up the Republican field.  None of them believe that climate change is man-made.  None of them think we should be doing anything to stop it.  That number, compared to the 3 people running on the Democratic side, should speak volumes as to the amount of politically corrupt money sloshing around on each side.  This is not to say that Democrats are entirely incorruptible by political money.  It does mean that Republicans lined up one by one to recite their lines, collect their checks from fat cats and polluters, and fool the American public into thinking they really care.  Common sense would have it that 14 and 3 are not indicators of each party's caring and enthusiastic urge to help Americans; they are measurements of each party’s greed.