Two things are guaranteed to make my human Regen angry, and that’s the Republican stance on guns and the environment, two issues where he says their policies are literally killing us. I know I speak for other dogs when I say it’s definitely gotten warmer since we were puppies. The summers are longer and hotter than ever before, and in fact when we moved to LA a decade ago they were in the middle of a seven-year drought!
You know, I get exposed to a lot of nonfiction audiobooks when I’m in the car with Regen, and I was surprised to learn that Republicans were once in favor of a healthy environment! Teddy Roosevelt started the National Park Service and was a huge champion of protecting enormous swaths of territory from development. Richard Nixon signed the Clear Air and Clean Water Acts into law and created the Environmental Protection Agency. Ronald Reagan–whom all Republican candidates love to cite–once said the following during a State of the Union address: “Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, it’s common sense.”
So what happened? An embrace of ignorance, denial of reason and retreat to tribalism. It was born with Sarah Palin, grew up during the Tea Party and reached adulthood under Trump. They appeal to human tribalism in the worst way, getting people to vote against their own self interest in the form of anti-environmental legislation. They actually seek to PUNISH companies that favor renewable energy while PROMOTING an increase in fossil fuel consumption. It’s insane and shows an utter lack of regard for their own children who will have to live with the consequences.
John McCain, a man very familiar to Regen and one of the last sane Republicans, once said about climate change that whether you believe in it or not, where’s the downside in a healthier environment?
