David Shapiro: Time to put our kids first in battling climate change

It’s disappointing to hear so much discussion about the proposed Green New Deal in Congress degenerate to cheap cracks about seahorse travel and regulating bovine flatulence.

The problem isn’t cow farts, but old farts who refuse to take responsibility for the increasingly unlivable world we’re leaving our grandchildren and generations beyond.

The Green New Deal, put forth mostly by young activists who believe climate change puts their lives literally at stake, is more aspirational than practical, combining urgency on eliminating fossil fuel emissions with a Christmas tree of liberal social and economic goals such as federal job guarantees, indigenous rights and universal health care.

Clearly, the climate concerns and social issues need to be separated and prioritized, but the important thing is to finally begin an urgent national discussion on this existential threat and commit to workable solutions that give hope to those who follow us.

It would have been a good job for Congress before dysfunction and cynicism became the new normal.

But instead of following the regular order of sending the bill to committee to hear evidence and thrash out legislation, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pressed for a quick vote assured to fail, squelching chances of a climate agreement.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) made a fatuous speech claiming the bill would ban air travel and force us to ride seahorses to Hawaii, while Donald Trump posted tweets lauding “Beautiful Clean Coal” and claiming wind energy causes cancer.

There are efforts to work around the Washington gridlock, but time is short and the climb is steep.

Former energy administrators from the Bush and Obama administrations are promoting a more practically minded Green Real Deal with concepts embraced by California and other states.

These include tough new energy efficiency and decarbonization standards, acceptance of advanced nuclear and accommodation of regional differences in climate solutions.

Senate Democrats have created a special committee on climate, chaired by Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, which will attempt to move Republicans off climate denial while preparing their own aggressive mitigation program if they regain control of the Senate in 2020.

The question is whether Democrats will be any more successful than Republicans at putting policy ahead of politics.

Hawaii, among the bluest of states, has been good at setting lofty goals and creating climate bureaucracies but has taken few concrete and politically difficult steps to actually mitigate climate change.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we have about 12 years to halve greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the most devastating environmental and economic damage.

Time is running out for the older generation, responsible for the economic excess and poor resource stewardship that caused this crisis, to grow a conscience and give future generations a chance to thrive on our planet as we have.

Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.