October was warmest on record. Will Dems address climate change?
This year’s October was the warmest on record. Maybe more sobering is the news that it was the third consecutive month to exceed the warming threshold set by the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement, which was ratified by 194 countries, including the United States.
The U.S. pulled out of the agreement, first in 2017, then, after Biden rejoined the accord during his presidency, again in January 2025 because President Trump, after a decision that was widely supported by conservatives, said its allotment of timelines for compliance gave an economic advantage to China and other nations at the expense of the United States.
Others disagreed, but the decision stuck.
So where is the United States now on climate change? Not a very good place.
The University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute concludes that “climate change is no longer a problem for the distant future. The effects of climate change are being seen and felt today.” You can scan the report for a detailed summation of the economic effects of climate change. A general conclusion is that warming temperatures will cost the U.S. anywhere from one to four percent of GDP by the end of the century.
Of more specific relevance to a farm state like South Dakota, Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability says that “rising global temperatures will dampen the world’s capacity to produce food from most staple crops, even after accounting for economic development and adaptation by farmers.”
Looking at this year’s situation, South Dakota’s farmers have been hit hard by drought, with producers in Brookings, Deuel, Hyde, and Stanley counties getting financial assistance from USDA because of severe or extended drought designations. The USDA statement reads “this disaster declaration highlights the continuing impact that drought can have on agricultural communities.”
Note the words “continuing impact.”
Has the Trump administration done much about alleviating climate change? No. In fact, his “drill, baby, drill” mantra is a direct assault on the whole notion that climate change is real and has to be addressed.
My hope is that the new congress, heavily weighted toward Democrats, will weigh in on climate change and bring some reality and substance into the U.S. approach toward it.
And now that Trump has been so severely weakened, politically, by last week’s Democratic tsunami, let’s hope that our all-GOP representation can understand South Dakota’s stake in the future of climate change – and maybe stand up for their constituents who are dealing with it every day.
John Tsitrian is a businessman and writer from the Black Hills. He was a weekly columnist for the Rapid City Journal for 20 years. His articles and commentary have also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Denver Post and The Omaha World-Herald. Tsitrian served in the Marines for three years (1966-69), including a 13-month tour of duty as a radioman in Vietnam. Republish with permission.
Photo: public domain, wikimedia commons
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