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The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

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Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
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GOP Pres. Candidates Need to Realize Climate Change Threatens National Security

I watched the Republican Debate last Thursday, but I’m not sure why. With “ringleader” Trump’s refusal to attend the debate, I figured it would be less theatrical, less circus-y and centered more around actual politics than drama. I was overly optimistic to think that the debate would not be operating under the guise of Trump’s attention-seeking antics and could really focus on issues, specifically issues regarding the environment and how the report released Jan. 20 by the UK Met Office showed 2015 to be the hottest year on record.

However, this alarming report was not mentioned at all in the debate, which conformed, more or less, to the same theme as all previous Republican debates: rich men talking about how science is wrong and God is great. How we should build walls, hate immigrants, fear Muslims, stop aborting babies and love America. No mention of 2015 being the hottest year on record.

Despite being so incredibly concerned about our national security, not a single candidate mentioned Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s February 2015 report that listed climate change as one of the biggest threats facing our country. And while most of the Republican candidates can at least admit that climate change exists, Ted Cruz remains unconvinced. At an August 2015 event, Cruz alleged that there has been “no satellite data in the last 18 years that has shown any recorded warming.” Wrong.

Met Office, NASA and NOAA all confirm that record global temperatures have been not only met but broken for the second year running and warn that global warming is tipping climate into “uncharted territory,” according to The Guardian. Phil Jones, a professor from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit, further confirmed that “it is clear that human influence is driving our climate into this uncharted territory.” This message is for you, Carson, Bush and Rubio, who credit the warming to some natural, environmental oscillation.

But instead of heeding NASA’s advice for “policymakers to stand up and take notice … that it is the time to act,” Republicans once again turned the other direction. The presidential hopefuls continued to focus on how they intend on “keeping America safe from ISIS,” instead of focusing on how to stop our world from becoming ice-less. Not one of the candidates addressed what Bolden called the “crisis of our generation” or presented any concern or plan on how to deal with climate change. The Republicans really need to re-strategize and figure out their plans to combat this issue. We’re all going down on this sinking ship together, and Mother Nature does not care about political ideologies.

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