Right-Wing Media Outraged Energy Secretary Mentions Climate Change and Miami Condo Collapse

In a Tuesday interview with, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm urged that sea degree rise could have performed a job within the devastating collapse of a condominium constructing in Surfside final week that killed 16 and left dozens nonetheless lacking.

“We don’t know fully, but we do know that the seas are rising,” she said in an interview with CNN’s Erica Hill. “We know that we’re losing inches and inches of beach. It’s not just in Florida, but all around.”

This is a completely correct illustration of the difficulty. While investigations are certainly at present ongoing, the specter of sea degree rise to coastal buildings—particularly these constructed on porous limestone and fill discovered all through Florida—may be very actual.

Yet as an alternative of pondering these dangers and attainable options, reactionary conservatives took the outrage machine route. On Twitter, they predictably misplaced their minds over this, although it was a tame and measured comment. “There’s nothing that can’t be blamed on climate change,” National Review editor Rich Lowry tweeted mockingly. A author for RedState.com chimed in that the remarks have been “absolutely ghoulish.” The Young America’s Foundation, presided over by 53-year-old former Gov. Scott Walker, called them “shameful.”

Some retailers, particularly the New York Post and Fox News, obtained mad sufficient to write down complete tales about Granholm’s feedback. Both have been significantly upset that Granholm took the chance to say the U.S. wants to spice up local weather resilience, specifically by way of the coming infrastructure invoice. How vulgar to be proactive as an alternative of merely providing ideas and prayers!

Both the Post and Fox additionally identified that there’s no laborious proof that the local weather disaster had something to do with the collapse. But the retailers didn’t acknowledge that Granholm herself stated as a lot herself. Nor did they acknowledge what is obvious: Sea degree rise and subsidence are threats to buildings in South Florida. Without severe local weather motion, extra folks may endure.

“The faux-outrage surrounding Hill’s question is less about being offended on behalf of the victims of this tragic accident and more about creating a chilling effect that makes asking climate questions verboten while providing fodder to keep audiences constantly outraged,” Evlondo Cooper, Media Matters’ local weather and vitality senior author, wrote in an electronic mail. (Media Matters famous that Granholm advised their organization earlier than taking her present position).

It’s no shock that the correct is taking such offense to the point out of local weather change within the face of catastrophe. This is just what it does. When Texas’ grid failed throughout a chilly snap this 12 months and a few known as for a Green New Deal, Fox said it was an try to “capitalize” on the disaster. Conservative lawmakers and media then went on to blame the Green New Deal for the blackouts regardless of Texas having nothing near resembling it.

After 2019’s unprecedented wildfires in Australia, conservative officers said mentioning local weather change was “disgusting.” The trigger, they falsely claimed, was arson. Subsequent analysis has recognized local weather change’s definitive position in inflicting the fireplace climate. After 2017’s Hurricane Irma, then-Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said “to have any kind of focus on the cause and effect of the storm, versus helping people, or actually facing the effect of the storm, is misplaced.” Research, once more, reveals that local weather change made 2017’s nightmarish hurricane season worse.

Don’t get me improper, it’s true that we don’t but know the way the Surfside rental collapse, and specialists have cautioned towards leaping to conclusions. In the aftermath of a catastrophe, one may be forgiven for desirous to be delicate.

But within the wake of a horrific catastrophe like this, it’s attainable to supply assist for mourning households and make a plan for how one can keep away from much more catastrophes sooner or later. In truth, the Biden administration must be doing far extra of the latter, not much less.