AS AN ‘UNSURVIVABLE’ HURRICANE HITS THE U.S., REPUBLICANS IGNORE REALITY, RISKS

Washington, D.C. — Tonight, the Republican National Convention once again went an entire evening without a single mention of a plan to combat the climate crisis and only perfunctory references to the Category 4 hurricane threatening Texas and Louisiana.

There is uniform conscience among scientists and experts that climate change is making extreme weather events like hurricanes, wildfires, and storms not just more frequent, but also more deadly and devastating. But you would hardly know there are multiple ongoing weather crises putting tens of millions at risk if you listened to the Republican convention.

Instead of putting forward any solutions or plans for the climate crisis, Republicans offered thoughts and prayers to the families in Laura’s path.

“Wildfires are ravaging the West and a historic storm is barreling toward Texas and Louisiana, and yet not a single speaker had anything real to say about the climate crisis that is happening right before our eyes,” said Lori Lodes, Executive Director of Climate Power 2020. “Denial is not a plan. Thoughts and prayers are not a solution. We must take action now to stave off even more devastation.”

Hurricane Laura is expected to make landfall late Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning. The storm has rapidly intensified over the past 24 hours and could hit Louisiana and Texas as a Category 5 hurricane. Experts are predicting a storm surge of 15 to 20 feet in some areas along the Gulf Coast.

This level of flooding could cause some of the 109 Superfund sites in Laura’s path to leak toxic chemicals into neighborhoods and drinking water storage. In 2017, hundreds of millions of gallons of contaminated industrial products and hundreds of tons of air toxins were released into communities because of flooding and damage during Hurricane Harvey.