The Real Scandal

As of late, we've seen plenty of media pundits fall over each other to obsess over the latest haute faux scandals. Perhaps they're just gearing up for the next G-O-TEA induced manufactured crisis? Yet while the usual politicians and pundits are catching the vapors over manufactured crises and haute faux scandals, a very real scandal continues to threaten our very existence.

So what is this scandal? Step outside and feel it.

This year is on track to be one of the hottest since record keeping began, according to a report released Wednesday by the World Meteorological Association (WMO). The report also found that global sea levels reached a record high in March 2013 and extreme weather events continued to devastate communities around the world. [...]

“Although individual tropical cyclones cannot be directly attributed to climate change, higher sea levels are already making coastal populations more vulnerable to storm surges. We saw this with tragic consequences in the Philippines,” Michel Jarraud, head of the WMO, told Agence France-Presse." [...]

The agency said it anticipates greenhouse gases will reach an unprecedented level in 2013 yet again and as humans continue to pump increasing amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the risk of severe climate-driven impacts will only become more acute. “The risk is getting much, much higher, and vulnerability is getting higher,” said Jarraud.

Along with a greater frequency of destructive weather events, experts predict a host of other impacts that will accompany climate change, including water shortages, decreased food supplies, and disease — impacts that will hit the most vulnerable populations hardest.

Here it is. Here's the real scandal.

And at least someone on Capitol Hill is noticing. Yesterday, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) delivered his 50th speech on climate change. This is his 50th climate themed Senate floor speech in the past 50 weeks.

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To be fair, he's not alone. Nevada's own Harry Reid (D) has spoken up on climate change, along with a few others on Capitol Hill. It's just too bad that too many of their colleagues are so distracted by faux scandals that they fail to notice the real one(s) staring us down.

The real scandal is the struggle that's underway to make America take bold action on the climate crisis. Why is it so hard for us to act? We're seeing the evidence all around us, even here in Nevada.

While far too many in The Beltway are obsessing over fake scandals, they're missing the real scandal that threatens all of us. And that should have all of us worried.