Op-Ed: Now Is The Time For Thoughts And Prayers, Not A Green New Deal

Let me just stop you right there, because I don’t even want to hear it. Wildfires are blazing out of control, entire towns are being decimated, people are dying, and you have the audacity to bring up constructive long-term strategies aimed at preventing more of this? Shame on you. Now is not the time to discuss a Green New Deal.⁣⁣
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Now is the time for our hearts, our minds and our souls to go out to the families grieving the loss of their loved ones, their homes and their communities. The mere notion that you’d want to take away my patriotic right to an economy that relies on corporate greed, burning fossil fuels and emitting greenhouse gasses is particularly tone-deaf in this moment.⁣⁣
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We must return to exactly how things were before this unexplainable catastrophe blindsided us. We must rebuild and then expand upon all of the homes in the same high-risk locations. Talk of addressing climate change while also fixing societal problems like economic inequality and racial injustice has a time and a place. The time is later, and the place is, I assume, Antifa’s headquarters.⁣
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The Green New Deal alleges that if we don’t deal with rising carbon emissions by reorienting our economy and reimagining our workforce, the environmental consequences will include, among other things, more frequent natural disasters. Bullshit! Scientifically backed fear mongering doesn’t scare me. Instead of radical concrete steps, why can’t people just clasp their hands together, breathe deeply and pray for the victims of these fires? Just as our honorable Vice President Mike Pence says, “this is a nation of miracles.” I believe that one is within reach. We just need to band together and ask God nicely for it.⁣⁣