The Senate’s ‘Sham Vote’ on the Green New Deal

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/opinion/letters/senate-green-new-deal.html

Version 0 of 1.

To the Editor:

Re “Where’s Your Climate Plan, Mr. McConnell?,” by Michelle Cottle (Editorial Observer, March 27):

When Senator Mitch McConnell called for a sham vote on the Green New Deal, he ignored the stark reality of climate change. The flooded residents of Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, who lack access to food, medicine and drinking water, don’t think climate change is a hoax. Nor do farmers in Nebraska, whose governor pronounced recent floods “the most widespread destruction we have ever seen in our state’s history.”

What would Mr. McConnell say to residents of Paradise, Calif., whose entire community burned to the ground? Or to people in Puerto Rico, North Carolina, Houston or the Florida Panhandle, still recovering from devastating hurricanes?

Perhaps he prefers to fiddle like the infamous Nero — but now it’s more than a single city on fire. Instead, it’s our fragile planet, the only one we’ve got.

Liza KetchumWatertown, Mass.

To the Editor:

Re “Green New Deal Is Mocked, and Blocked, by the Senate” (news article, March 27):

This week Republicans stuck their tongues out at leaders who are trying to work out a plan to limit the catastrophic warming of the planet. Several of these politicians then proceeded to a “$500-a-plate fund-raiser” held at “the chief lobbying group for the coal industry.”

I am 37 years old and have two small children. I am not old or arrogant enough to ignore the dire warnings of the vast majority of climate scientists, who have been analyzing mountains of data for decades.

Because they belong to the fossil fuel industry, these politicians will continue to roll their eyes instead of rolling up their sleeves and getting to work on climate change. We need to strengthen our democracy so we can elect more politicians who give a damn about people.

Gillian Barlow GrahamPortland, Ore.