Editorial: After storms, climate change takes center stage in presidential race

The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press Editorial Board, The Virginian-Pilot on Oct 14, 2024

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The United States isn’t prepared for a future shaped by the climate crisis. That includes Hampton Roads, where rising seas and sinking land conspire to deliver more frequent and more destructive flooding with each passing year.

There are other important issues shaping political campaigns this year, from the economy to immigration, but few will affect the daily lives of millions of Americans — and the future of our region — more than how we confront climate change. The need to curb harmful emissions and bolster at-risk communities should weigh heavily on voters as they make their choices at the polls.

The signs of a changing climate are ever present in the United States, from deadly heat waves and prolonged drought to insatiable wildfires and destructive flooding. According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data, the nation experienced 19 billion-dollar weather disasters in the first seven months of this year alone — taxing the resources available to storm victims and increasing the financial burden on states and localities.

That doesn’t include the two hurricanes, Helene and Mitch, that devastated the U.S. in recent days. While powerful tropical systems form every year, a warming planet — and, specifically, record high water temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico — supercharged those storms and contributed to their catastrophic destruction.

Helene would have been a powerful storm in cooler times, but scientists at the Imperial College London calculated that the rain was 10% greater and the winds 13% stronger due to warmer temperatures. Similarly, Milton’s rapid intensification from a tropical depression to a Category 5 hurricane in a 48-hour span wouldn’t be possible without extremely warm water in the Gulf.

Climate researchers have outlined the risks of global warming for years, only to have their warnings dismissed by skeptics and ignored by too many policy-makers. The United States still ranks behind only China for its carbon dioxide emissions, and has been slow to embrace a transition to cleaner energy sources that can cut pollution while generating new economic opportunities for workers and business.

The sluggish pace of improving the resilience of vulnerable communities has similarly lacked the urgency to meet this challenge. The water continues to rise, flooding exacts an ever-greater toll and places such as Miami, New Orleans and, of course, Hampton Roads are not prepared for it.

Thankfully, those initiatives have picked up momentum in recent years. On the federal level, the Inflation Reduction Act put $400 billion toward clean energy programs and resilience projects — the most significant legislative effort to fight climate change in U.S. history. And the Virginia Clean Economy Act requires the commonwealth to generate 100% of its power through carbon-free sources by 2050.

While those efforts and others like them represent progress, resilience is another matter entirely. Hampton Roads alone needs an estimated $40 billion to build floodwalls, living shorelines, pump stations, tidal gates and other measures to hold back the water. And Helene made clear that even inland communities will require plenty of help to prepare for a future of extreme weather events.

While Congress holds the federal purse strings, the president can shape the policy discussion and advance initiatives that can help reduce greenhouse emissions and assist resilience efforts by states and localities.

Trump has called climate change a hoax and, as president, withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, loosened regulations intended to reduce emissions and sought to expand oil drilling. His dismissal of climate concerns and opposition to clean energy efforts are well documented.

Harris has called climate change an existential threat to the nation, cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the Inflation Reduction Act and, as California attorney general, prosecuted polluters in that state. She would continue investment in green energy and resilience, aiming to address both the cause and effects of global warming.

For Hampton Roads and countless other communities threatened by a changing climate, the contrast between the two couldn’t be clearer. While the race may not pivot on this issue, the outcome will have a lasting effect on our region’s future.