Antonieta Cádiz
The House of Representatives is in a disastrous state once again thanks to the Republican extremism of the MAGA movement. Is a party that cannot balance its own internal politics ready to legislate, to lead.
We came very close to a government shutdown caused by the intransigence of the most extreme lawmakers in the Republican Party, who are determined to sacrifice the safety of many families and workers in order to continue pushing an anti-climate agenda and opposed to one of the most basic principles that should prevail in political leadership: an economy that works for everyone and not just for big corporations.
What’s worse is that the uncertainty is not over yet as in just a little over a month, we could find ourselves in the same situation, and currently, the House of Representatives is doing nothing to move forward as Republicans are mired in an internal leadership crisis after they ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Instead of being focused on moving forward, MAGA Republicans are stuck on dismantling the progress we have made, and it is evidenced by the more than 16 times they have attempted to move legislation in Congress to roll back the advances of the Clean Energy Plan that President Biden achieved last year through landmark legislation.
Climate change is pushing various weather phenomena to their extremes.
They don’t care that U.S. companies are investing in innovation, construction, manufacturing, and jobs. They don’t care that clean energy jobs are among the fastest growing in the U.S., nor that they are high-paying jobs that pay about 21% more than the national average wage.
Nor are they concerned that the majority of U.S. Latinos (81%) consider climate change a priority or that communities of color are among the hardest hit and least likely to recover from extreme weather events.
While international leaders such as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Pope Francis make clear calls to reject climate deniers and put their finger on the urgency to leave fossil fuels behind and cement progress on a clean energy transition to reduce global warming, MAGA extremists are harboring climate denialism.
We are already feeling the impacts of climate change. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense. In fact, this week, once again, many woke up under dark skies due to smoke from wildfires coming from Canada in what has been a historic and abnormally long season. Climate change is pushing various weather phenomena to their extremes, and this is no exception.
Many of us know what populism disguised as national movements looks, smells, and walks like. We have lived it. Unfortunately, we also know where political extremism takes us. The MAGA movement is the end of the American dream in its entirety and is the beginning of a leadership based on fear, oppression of diversity, and plurality. A world where the will of one reigns and bipartisanship does not exist. Do we want that for our families?
Antonieta Cádiz is the Deputy Executive Director with Climate Power En Acción.
