Brookings resident Carl Kline is an ordained clergyman, part-time teacher and occasional blogger.

One of the most significant issues in this election hasn’t received the kind of attention it deserves. Perhaps that’s because Donald Trump doesn’t believe in climate change. It’s a “green scam” and he simply dismisses it. It’s a “hoax”! It’s hard to debate a hoax. If elected, he intends to “drill baby drill;” in part, to pay back the fossil fuel industry for the millions they contributed to his campaign.

We don’t have to look very far to see the consequences of severe weather events. The most recent hurricane to hit the U.S. was deadly and expensive. At least 232 deaths have been recorded, with some $88 billion in damage.

But it’s not just the United States. Severe weather events are happening all over the globe! Recent torrential rains in Spain killed at least 214 people and days later many were still missing. The flash floods were the worst in modern Spanish history. Facebook reels seem to specialize in rushing water these days. You can watch the torrents carry cars, people, and debris in all manner of places, all over the globe. The old adage is alive and well, “when it rains, it pours!”

Of course, the ice in the arctic keeps melting to fuel those rain events. And recent reports tell us Mount Fuji is snowless for the first time in 130 years. Snow usually appears the first week of October. Not in 2024! The timberline has moved up the mountain 100 feet in the last 40 years as the snows retreat.

Global sea levels have risen 8-9 inches since 1880. In 2023, the average sea level rise was almost 4 inches higher than it was in 1993, a new record high. The rate of rise has also accelerated, doubling since 2006. For Trump, sea level rise is a good thing, as it creates more beach-front property. Unfortunately, the property already there may no longer exist.

One of the most problematic emissions helping heat the planet is methane. “The number of methane “super-emitters” detected by a satellite company has surged by approximately one-third over the past year, despite pledges from fossil fuel companies to reduce their emissions of the highly potent greenhouse gas. Stephane Germain, the CEO of methane-tracking company GHGSat, told The Associated Press on Thursday that company satellites had detected around 20,000 oil and gas operations, coal mines, and landfills that spewed 220 pounds of methane per hour since the end of 2023—up from around 15,000 the year before.”

Donald Trump would likely respond, “It will start getting cooler, just you watch.” Or, “I will end this war on American energy,” (responding to Biden administration policies). Or, “give me clean, beautiful and healthy air — not the same old climate change (global warming) bullshit! I am tired of hearing this nonsense.”

One issue that is getting a lot of pre-election attention is immigration. But it’s really in-attention when it comes to the basic concern. Nobody seems to be asking why there are so many refugees? The number of persons displaced by severe climate causes is growing and is expected to continue to increase. In 2022, 32.6 million people were displaced by severe weather events, a 41% increase from levels in 2008. Some looking at the refugee numbers expect 1.2 billion climate refugees by 2050. They are not all terrorists and drug runners and rapists! They are fleeing impossible living situations caused by unconscionable rich societies, unable to limit their use of fossil fuels.

One organization in the climate wars we should support is 350 org. Here is a group of young people, knowledgeable about their projected future, and working hard to win the climate battle. They are challenging the financial, corporate and political institutions that are leading us to climate disaster. They recognize at some point (we may have already reached), there’s no going back.

I’m happy to know that the Bible is Donald Trump’s favorite book. I assume he reads it religiously. I’d like to refer him and all his fossil fuel friends to the book of Psalms, chapter 24. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” It doesn’t belong to us! The earth belongs to the Creator; and everything we do in our pride and arrogance and attempt to get rich to damage it, is to our own detriment and against the Creators’ intention.

As always, we are free to choose. Of course, the consequences of our choices can be costly. In the case of the changing weather and future climate; the choice of a powerful few can result in devastating consequences for the many! That means “the many” need to wake up and rise up.