The high cost of global warming

Seeing the devastation caused by Hurricane Florence, I cannot wrap my mind around how many Americans have lost their homes, their livelihood and in some cases their lives. As the earth gets warmer each year, storms are reaching Biblical proportions and the lives and livelihoods of Americans are sacrificed so that the petro-billionaires can extract maximum profits. Our government discourages renewable energy with tariffs and legislation, while rewarding those who pollute our land, water and atmosphere with tax cuts and deregulation.

It is time to value the average Americans, who work hard and raises families in places like North Carolina. Their lives are cut short by the greedy destruction of the environment by the barons of the extraction industries. It is time to tell your legislators to bring back the 90 percent income tax bracket for those earning more than $5 million per year in wages, capital gains or carried interest. It is time that the polluting class find it harder to buy politicians and media outlets to protect their wealth and power. It is time that Americans get a fair share of the prosperity possible with renewable energy, sustainable farming, universal healthcare and subsidized higher education.

The barons of industry have attacked education, health care, women’s rights, refugees and families. You must consider what happened in North Carolina and in Puerto Rico and therefore know that the polluting class is not just ready to sacrifice our environment for their gain, they are willing to sacrifice our lives.