This past weekend hurricane Helene tore into the US mainland and ripped its way through multiple States including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia leaving a path of devastation in its wake of apocalyptic scale. This storm has already claimed the lives of more than 100 people (and counting) across 4 states and is likely to be one of the costliest natural disasters to hit the United States in modern history.
Stories abound of heroic rescues, tragic losses – both human and infrastructure – and the total wreckage, and sometimes disappearance of communities beneath the storm surge. It is frankly beyond human comprehension the sheer scale of the damage wrought by this hurricane. The city of Asheville NC has needed supplies airlifted in. This is an all hands on deck moment, and our hearts go out to those who have lost, and our admiration for those rescue workers and community members stepping up in the crisis.
Tragically, storms like this will become ever more common, as the worsening climate crisis exacerbates extreme weather events. This all but guarantees that while Helene was one of the deadliest and costliest storms of the last 75 years, it will not be one of the worst of the next 75.
To this backdrop, the lack of coverage focusing on the climate crisis as a major culprit for these worsening storms and the devastation borne by everyday citizens is simply unconscionable, doubly so in the lead-up to an election with candidates who differ so starkly in their climate policies. This silence is a form of complicity, as communities drown and a few wealthy individuals continue to profit from a petrochemical economy. Perhaps it has something to do with all those commercial ad spots…
It may seem a trivial point to continue belaboring, but making sure that those who are responsible for these conditions are continually acknowledged and blamed is crucial to eventually taking the necessary steps to change this balance of power away from these fossil fuel barons and towards a more equitable, green, and sustainable future.
Long after the storm surge has receded people will need to come together to rebuild not just their homes and businesses but their communities as well, and with each loss it gets harder. If we are going to prevent hurricane Helene from being one in a growing series of climate catastrophes, it will take combination political and economic power along with technological know-how and community involvement to achieve the adaptation and mitigation measures communities want and need. This change must start in the local community and must grow to have the power to challenge the logic of a fossil fuel system which relies on ever greater production of greenhouse gases.
We must use these moments of tragedy and crisis to galvanize our common humanity, and to rethink our strategies on how to decouple the economic interests and power of the fossil fuel Elite from our political system. Until we do, we will continue to face worsening storms, and worsening crises borne by those who did the least to contribute to them. So, join us each Tuesday in growing solidarity as we fight for a cleaner healthier more sustainable energy economy and environment, and to prepare communities to better face (and hopefully prevent) the storms ahead.
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