Texans hit hard by Hurricane Harvey rethink climate change

[applegrove]

http://ottawacitizen.com/pmn/news-pmn/texans-hit-hard-by-hurricane-harvey-rethink-climate-change/wcm/83b38249-020a-46ce-aa27-fc7a2e7c7798

The Associated Press, Ottawa Citizen

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PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Jefferson County, Texas, was drowned by more than 60 inches of rain during Hurricane Harvey, which left wide swaths of the county in ruins. Last November, Jefferson flipped from voting Democratic in presidential elections to instead back Donald Trump, who has dismissed the concept of climate change as a hoax and has worked to undo regulations meant to mitigate its damage.

Scientists say climate change doesn’t cause hurricanes but that warming and rising seas supercharge those already forming. Some who lost everything in Harvey’s floodwaters say they’re starting to take the threat of climate change more seriously now, and they want Trump to show more leadership on the issue. But this is a place that depends on the petroleum industry, and others applaud Trump’s efforts to reverse environmental policies that they see as harmful.

Here are some of the voices from the rebuilding in Texas.

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Water was coming from everywhere,” she remembers. “Even when it wasn’t raining, the water didn’t stop coming up.”

Most of her relatives are conservatives and dismiss the threat of climate change. Her husband works in a petroleum refinery, so she understands concerns about potential economic costs of addressing the issue. But “to come up with real solutions, you have to be honest with yourselves about what causes something to happen. It’s not just because some storm came, it was bad and unprecedented. It was unprecedented for a reason.


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[NCjack]

1. Liddl' Harvey wasn't bad enough to convince Texas that Global Climate

Change is going to kick its ass. Self-delusion is their problem.

[Crash2Parties]

2. I mean, they'll still vote GOP straight down the ticket, but...

You know, they think the party may just be "mistaken" on that climate stuff.

[Jeroen]

3. Like a leaking sink, it won't go away until it's fixed

But if course, positive thinking and prayer might help

[Achilleaze]

4. republican lies about climate change are dangerous

Since republicans refuse to acknowledge reality or speak truth about a clear and present danger, they should at least STFU and let responsible citizens take smart action.

[Luz]

5. Port Arthur, my hometown. At one time a strong union

town and very Democrat. Now, unions are gone and the refinery jobs not as abundant nor as well paying. Most of the young talent has left for the greener pastures of Houston. They changed to voting repub in hopes of saving what once was and can never be again. No party can return what they lost, and now, after a few major storms, there is even less to save. Perhaps the right Democrat candidate can turn them back?