Forget EPA and Keystone, Election Results Grant Time We Don't Have to Polluters

Needless to say, if you care about climate change, you can't be terribly happy about what went down on Tuesday. Phil Plait posted an excellent rundown of what a GOP-controlled House and Senate could mean for the climate and science in general.

"But this vast, gaping polarization of American politics is toxic, especially where it comes to the crucial issue of global warming. Here, a Senate GOP majority can have an extremely destructive effect."

And Ben Adler over at Grist wrote a similar assessment.

"This is not good news for the climate...The Republicans have two top energy-related demands: stop EPA from regulating CO2 and approve the Keystone XL pipeline."

As much as I agree with these two opinion pieces, like many if not all election diagnoses and follow-ups, there's a critical conclusion which is not being drawn here. Phil mentions it, but fails to recognize it as the truly insidious threat to any hope of reversing the adverse effect our emissions have on the climate.

"What does [a GOP Senate majority] mean? Well, in the short term and for many issues, not a lot. This previous Congress will go down in history as the least effective ever, since all it really did is block White House initiatives."

Quite the contrary, this pointless political tail-chasing and continued inaction means everything, as far as global warming is concerned, anyway. Republicans will waste precious time we don't have grandstanding for their scientifically-illiterate base on issues they know will most likely get vetoed (Obamacare, reversing EPA regulation of CO2, the Keystone XL pipeline, etc.), without hope of a two-thirds overturning vote, and the real winner will be the fossil fuel industry, which will be awarded a de facto license to go on polluting and reprieve from cutting emissions during the next few years of ineffectual, meaningless wrangling in Washington. It should surprise absolutely no one that, coincidentally, these corporations are one of the Grand Old Party's greatest sources of funding.

As depressing as these election results and the impending political inertia may seem, there is still a faint beacon of hope shining far off in the distance, which continues to brighten and spread throughout the land. And it's the idea that, in spite of pathetic ineptitude on the part of politicians, businesses will rise to the occasion, anyway, and see great opportunities for growth, cost-cutting, and profit in greening their operations and combating climate change. Here's Andrew Winston, author of The Big Pivot: Radically Practical Strategies for a Hotter, Scarcer, and More Open World, to explain why caring for the environment and a thriving economy are not only completely compatible, but, in fact, inevitable partners.