Clear the Air

Wildfires have charred more than 5 million acres on the West Coast, and Klickitat County residents are breathing some of the worst air in the world. Will this be our “new normal”? Democratic and Republican leaders express vastly different viewpoints. 

On the Republican side, President Donald Trump calls Climate Change a “hoax.” Jamie Herrera-Beutler, who represents Klickitat County in Congress, supported Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. She also voted against giving the Environmental Protection Agency the ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

In contrast, Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden has assailed President Trump’s response to the wildfires and choking air: “President Trump fails to protect us—from the pandemic, from an economic free fall, from racial unrest, from the ravages of climate change.” Carolyn Long, the Democrat running to unseat Herrera-Beutler, asserts, “Climate change is real. It is a human-caused crisis that requires immediate action.”

Are the fires and smoke worsened by climate change? Scientists—and our own experience—say yes. By denying this reality, Trump and his enablers are gambling on our children’s future.

It’s time to vote Democrat.