By Paul Bledsoe Professorial lecturer at American University’s Center for Environmental Policy 8 A massive storm, Hurricane Helene , made larger and more destructive due to super-heated ocean temperatures caused by climate change, is due to slam into Florida Thursday. The enormity of this storm (and others like it) is partly the inevitable result of former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party ‘s nihilistic and irresponsible climate policy. The fallout will include billions of dollars in new disaster costs for the already beleaguered Sunshine State, and should be a late-campaign reminder to voters that critical public safety and economic issues around climate policy are very much on the ballot this November. The difference between the two candidates on climate policy could not be more dramatic. Vice President Kamala Harris has made climate protection a centerpiece of her energy and economic policies. As she noted this week , “Our young leaders have grown up knowing only the climate crisis. They understand what’s at stake for their future. As president, I will confront the climate crisis with bold action, building a clean energy economy, advancing environmental justice, and increasing resilience to climate disasters.” In contrast, as president, Trump rolled back every climate protection he could. In fact, Trump has made attacking the Biden-Harris Administration’s climate actions central to his 2024 campaign. He has called fast-growing, inexpensive, homegrown American renewable energy “a scam business,” and ignored the urgent need to limit emissions. Instead he is proposing a deliberate doubling down of a fossil fuel economy , and asking the oil industry for a billion dollars in contributions in exchange for expanding fossil energy. Trump continues to falsely question proven climate science and has vowed to overturn the successful new Biden-Harris climate and clean energy programs . Tallahassee State professor Pamela Andrews […]