Can‘t Breathe? Climate Deniers Think That's Nonsense

Unlike Dominion Voting Systems, the planet Earth can’t sue for defamation.

The orange haze from wildfires hundreds of miles away, seen on just about every medium capable of showing imagery this week, is not a big problem, according to the authoritative voices at Fox News.

If these dummies could read, they’d at least been exposed to World Health Organization data saying air pollution causes approximately 7 million premature deaths each year. 

You have to hand it to these folks, “breathing soot isn’t bad” is a good match with other MAGA/GOP policies, like “child labor is good for children” and forcing disabled and senior citizens to work for their social security benefits. 

• Fox guest: There's just no health risk...We have this kind of air in India and China all the time, no public health emergency... this doesn't kill anybody, this doesn't make anybody cough, this is not a health event... particulate matter is just very fine soot, they're innocuous.

Left unsaid was this “expert’s” history as a lobbyist for Big Tobacco.

As to India and China, his statements are willful lies. The Air Quality Life Index by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) says that the 510 million people living in northern India are on track to lose 7.6 years of their lives on average, based on current pollution levels.

And it’s not just New York City that’s suffering. Satellite images show smoke covering the Northeast and extending into the Carolinas. Baseball games are being canceled, airports are being closed down, and Broadway plays have shut down.

Smoke from wildfires in Canada has been moving south into the US since May. In Nova Scotia and Quebec there are more than 150 active fires; Canada-wide the number grows to 400+.. This sort of air pollution represents a greater threat to life expectancy than smoking or war according to the World Health Organization (WHO)

Contrarianism from the right is a staple on Fox News. Unlike Dominion Voting Systems, the planet Earth can’t sue for defamation. 

Given free reign to just make stuff up,  Fox News hosts used Wednesday to mock the climate crisis and say coverage of it was a left wing conspiracy. 

"DEMS PUMPING UP CLIMATE HYSTERIA AMID WILDFIRES," read a banner as host Jeanine Pirro alleged Democrats were using the health threat to bring back "mask insanity." Jesse Watters later followed with a similar attack line, claiming politicians are using the situation to urge Americans to "quarantine" and ridiculing the use of masks.

Prime-time anchor Sean Hannity mocked reports of people having difficulty breathing:

• “I’m like, ‘I’m walking in the same place you’re walking in and I don’t feel a thing.’ And I’m trying to understand. I work out regularly. So, I think I’m relatively in tune with my body,” he explained.

• “I think if I was having difficulty breathing I would notice, but these are young people saying this. Are they all snowflakes?” Hannity asked contributor Charly Arnolt.

Greg Kelly at Newsmax told viewers the smoke was actually kinda neat:

• The White House is trying to exploit this, saying it's all because of global warming and the normal talking points that go with that. I don't think that's the case. I think it's a forest fire. This actually has happened a couple of times before in history. And for the time being, we can live with it. But it is pretty, it actually is pretty. It's a beautiful, interesting aura the city has right now. 

The poor folks hooked on this babble are probably buying into it, as they –cough, cough– adjust their MyPillows waiting for the return of Trump. It’s really too bad this audience includes unusually large numbers of legislators looking for a way to justify support from Dirty Energy.

The problem is bigger than heat domes, wildfires, and flooding. People in charge (or capable of blocking change) are supporting things that majorities of Americans know are wrong. 

Gun violence, access to healthcare, women’s reproductive rights, the growing gap between the very rich and the rest of us, a corporate culture that ignores everything but shareholder gains and CEO bonuses, and the inequities imposed on most every “otherized” group. (There’s more, but you get the picture, I hope.)

One huge problem facing all these right wing ideals and policies is the lack of buy-in from younger voters. 

As Jean Guerrero wrote in the Los Angeles Times:

• Gen Zers and millennials will represent nearly 40% of votes in the 2024 election. Millennials are the first generation that hasn’t become more conservative with age, and Gen Zers are following in their progressive footsteps.

• The GOP’s future, whether it accepts the reality or not, will depend on winning over this generation. As long as Gen Zers fight apathy and cynicism about politics, they may come to wield far more power than they think they have.

I really don’t know if their votes in the coming elections will be enough to at least stop the damage being done to our planet and our democracy. And there are, despite the tendency to classify politics by generation, plenty of oldsters willing to lend a hand.

There are more climate disasters headed our way, but for now they are largely unpredictable. I can only hope the declining ratings for fabulist media is a sign that change in the zeitgeist is afoot.  

All American News Clips

Homelessness in San Diego County rose 22 percent last year. More of them are women, seniors and veterans Via the San Diego Union Tribune. Look real hard at the numbers and tell me that the “detox & Jesus” politicians are correct about any of their assumptions. And take a second look and tell me that the ever-increasing homeless population can be housed by Housing First-lite programs–we can’t build or buy facilities fast enough to stem the flow.

• The Regional Task Force on Homelessness began releasing reports last year that showed an average of 10 homeless people found housing each month while 13 people fell into homelessness for the first time.

• Kohler said homeless people often cite income issues as their biggest challenge in trying to find housing they once could afford.

• “We are always struggling with an under-resourced system that just doesn’t have the capacity to deal with the numbers we’re seeing,” she said.

***

San Diego OKs large downtown digital ad kiosks, despite concerns about jeopardizing city’s strict sign rules Via the San Diego Union-Tribune. Really? Flashing digital commercials for nothingness again? Does anybody remember the proposed San Diego “entertainment district” using the sides of downtown buildings as screens from the Faulconer era?  

• The council voted 7-1 in favor of the deal, which will generate somewhere between $630,000 and $1.4 million per year for the city and roughly half that for the Downtown San Diego Partnership.

• The revenue generated will vary based on the number of kiosks eventually installed and how much advertising revenue they generate. They will have screens that are roughly 15 square feet in size.

Do any city officials realize that traditional advertising of all sorts is collapsing? They’ll be lucky not to lose money.

***

Exclusive: Former White House official told federal prosecutors Trump knew of proper declassification process and followed it while in office Via CNN. I guess that puts the “declassify by telepathy" defense to rest.

***

200+ things that Fox News has labeled “woke” Via Media Matters

• The progression of “woke” from its origins in the Black community to its eventual status as a conservative dog whistle has been well-documented, yet right-wing media — including Fox News — can’t seem to settle on a definition. However, the lack of a clear definition hasn’t stopped Fox from indiscriminately throwing “woke” at hundreds of things.

• The problem is a two-way street: Fox personalities struggle to define “woke” because they have attributed the term to nearly everything under the sun, stripping it of any meaningful definition and surrendering it to right-wing dog whistles. In doing so, Fox News has solidified the word’s status as a derisive catch-all for anything involving marginalized groups or progressive policies, arguably increasing its effectiveness as a means of inspiring outrage among its audience.

***

You can follow me at:

• Post —→DougPorter@wordsdeedsblogger

• Tribel ——> DougP Porter@dougporter506

• Mastodon ——> DougPorter506@mastodon.social

• Spoutible —>@dougporter506

• Facebook —----> https://www.facebook.com/WordsAndDeedsBlog

Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com