Republican resistance to environmental protections and unwavering support for fossil fuels drives climate change, yet they oppose aid to those hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy. Conventional wisdom indicates that individual storms cannot be attributed to climate change. However, as explained in a Scientific American article, “that statement does not mean that we cannot say that climate change is making storms bigger….Hurricane Sandy has emboldened more scientists to directly link climate change and storms, without the hedge….Insurers, scientists and journalist are beginning to drop the caveats and simply say that climate change is causing big storms.”

Hurricane Sandy was a monster storm, it devastated the New Jersey shore and parts of the New York City area coastline and left thousands homeless. The superstorm damaged or destroyed more than 72,000 homes and businesses in New Jersey. In New York, more than 300,000 housing units were damaged or destroyed and more than 265,000 businesses were affected.

While some victims of Hurricane Sandy have received partial payments, Many Republicans in the House sought to deny assistance to the people in need. There are currently 140,000 outstanding claims that have yet to be closed.

The sane approach is to develop a policy that strives to stave off the worst impacts of climate change alongside planning for long-term adaptation. However, this entails an understanding informed by climate science and this is one of the things that Republicans seem to adamantly oppose. Read More→