Turning up the Heat

People throughout the world are baking in the heat and occasionally there is a faint recognition that this has something to do with climate change. The country that puts the most carbon emissions into the atmosphere is nevertheless stymied by one key player.

• One politician, Senator Joe Manchin, says he will not support his party’s climate change initiatives

• The US Supreme Court has limited the ability of the government to curb emissions from power plants

• The opposition party is against any climate legislation.

• The US loses its ability to influence other major emitters, like China. India and Brazil.

• The US is not on track to meet its goals for the Paris Accord. It doesn’t provide a great example to other countries.

• One man’s action has severely limited the role of the party in power leaving it dysfunctional in a democratic system.

  It’s no wonder that E. M. Forster suggested only two cheers for democracy. He expressed his concern for the individual in a world facing totalitarianism, as well as extremism from both the left and the right. He claimed at the time that the title was a joke when his writings included material going back to 1936, the year of my birth. One writer evaluating the collection suggests that it has worn well. He was looking ahead at the time to the rise of Nazi Germany.

  Leadership demands morality for the public good. We need it now more than ever.