By Kris Pastoriza, Easton
“The really, really scary thing about the climate crisis is that every single achievement of every human society on Earth occurred under a climate that no longer exists.”
The IPCC’s latest report warns that we are at code red yet Governor Sununu just signed the partisan HB 373:
“The state of New Hampshire shall not join, implement, or participate in any state, regional, or national low carbon fuel standards program or any similar program that requires quotas, caps, or mandates on any fuels used for transportation, industrial purposes, or home heating without seeking and receiving prior legislative and executive council approval.”
Governor Sununu and the Republican legislators are unable to face the horrors being unleashed by global warming; fires, floods, pandemics, wars, forced migrations, famines and drought. New Hampshire has failed to begin the difficult but necessary transition to living free of fossil fuels. Rather it has voted, through its legislators, to do more damage with its business-friendly-as-usual plan, one dependent on fossil-fuels and especially fossil-fueled-tourism. While the planet burns, Governor Sununu and those who voted for HB 373 throw gas on the fire.
The fossil fuel corporations have spent the past 30 years and millions of dollars on media in order to cast doubt on the truth of global warming. Now that this strategy has run its course, enriching them while doing unspeakable damage to the planet, these corporations continue to pursue their profit over the future of the planet, while promoting net-zero as a means to allay our fears and postpone actions that would keep fossil fuels in the ground, where they belong.
Pledges to reach net-zero are mere mantras. They are not followed by gas or electricity rationing, a gas tax, carbon tax or any restrictions on our habit of consuming as much as we want regardless of the damage it does to others. HB 373 shows that the majority of the New Hampshire legislature does not believe the IPCC report and will not even make the gesture of a pledge to reach net-zero, let alone immediately and drastically lower our carbon production.
As we head toward cultural and environmental collapse, we need a Governor and legislators who have the intelligence and integrity to confront the truth of global warming and act on that knowledge. The current moral failure is not confined to the Republicans. In the recent Senate vote on the budget: “Democratic senators also introduced amendments to the resolution. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, offered an amendment expressing support for tax increases on the nation’s richest 0.1%. The measure failed after Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) joined every Republican in voting no.”
Let your legislators and Governor Sununu know how you feel about the decisions they made for you.
Kris Pastoriza
Easton, NH
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