• Efforts to repeal a 2009 EPA finding that greenhouse gases (GHGs) are harmful, despite clear consensus to the contrary.
• Ten-year delay in implementation of methane leakage rules.
• Cajoling countries to buy and burn U.S. fracked gas as part of tariff negotiations.
• Calling climate change the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” in a speech to leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.
• Facilitation of Federal lands and waters for oil and gas drilling.
• Facilitation of oil and gas drilling and pipeline permits.
• Twisting the arm of state Governors like Gov. Hochul to approve previously denied gas pipelines.
• Even banning the use of words like “climate change,” “green,” “emissions,” “decarbonization,” “net zero,” “energy transition,” “carbon/CO2 footprint,” and others in Government business and websites; and so much more. Banning words? What have we come to?

By any measure, these are extreme and concerted efforts.

In response, we are not witnessing public statements by Republican leaders such as, “No Mr. President, GHGs are in fact harmful, this is well-established science” or “No, Mr. President, climate change is real,” or “No Mr. President, an incineration economy will destroy our country’s future” or “Mr. President, we are fools to kill the miraculous economic engine unleashed by the IRA, especially in red states” or “Mr. President, you are all but guaranteeing future Chinese dominance.”

There can only be two reasons for an entire national party to behave in this manner. The first is rank stupidity and ignorance. On the face of it, this reason does not pass muster. For one, stupidity is equal opportunity. The chances of every single person in one party being stupid and ignorant are zero – about as high as the chances of everyone in the other party being smart and honest. And there is nothing stupid about how the Republican party is seeking power, achieving power and clinging on to power. There is no way that stupidity and ignorance across the board can explain this behavior.

The only other possible explanation is a corrupt, pecuniary motive. But to allege corruption is a serious matter and must be supported by evidence of quid pro quo. Here, we have two data points. The first is that the fossil fuel industry gave Mr. Trump $445 million for his 2024 campaign. We do not know how much the industry spent on down-ballot races. We also know that Mr. Trump openly and brazenly asked the industry for $1 billion. For an industry that earned $4 trillion in profits in 2022 (profiting from the Ukraine war) and $2.7 trillion in profits in 2023 (a more normal year’s profit), a contribution of $1 billion is chump change, and therefore not out of the realm of possibility, and we know for a fact that about half of that was paid to Mr. Trump’s campaign alone.

In return for huge amounts of money, the President and the Republican Party are willing, with one voice, to brazenly deny scientifically accepted facts and lie to the American people that GHGs are not harmful. President Trump and the Republican Party are willing, with one voice, to withdraw from the Paris Accord, risking alienation from the rest of the world. President Trump and the Republican Party are willing, with one voice, to jeopardize America’s economic future and cede dominance where it really matters to China, selling our future down the drain. President Trump and the Republican Party are willing, with one voice, to permanently and irreversibly harm our planet, our energy security, our pocketbooks and the health and well-being of all people.

Given the massive role that money plays in our politics, it is unlikely that any court will find any of this illegal. But what is truly bothersome is that this immoral activity is supported by your dollars, to your own detriment. Every time you fill your gas tank at the pump or the delivery truck refills your oil tank or you heat your house with fracked gas or you use grid electricity, you are inherently contributing to the power of the fossil fuel lobby, and indirectly to this corruption.

The solution is simple: we need to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels, so that the industry no longer has the power or money to set our national priorities and policies. Let’s not allow our own money to be used against us. Here’s a simple 6-point plan: when it’s time to buy a car, go electric. Replace your furnace with heat pumps. Use clean electricity from rooftop solar, backyard solar, community solar or a clean Energy Service Company (ESCO). Cook with an induction stove. Exclude fossil fuel companies from your retirement accounts. Offset your flights. Bonus points for voting, advocating and organizing for a stable climate. Let’s get to work!

This is an opinion and analysis article. The views expressed by the author are solely his own and not those of any organization he is affiliated with or CURE100.