Letter to the editor: Vote out climate change deniers

Over the past 50 years, oil and gas companies have spent a small fortune spreading misinformation to the public about climate change. Not surprisingly, the Republican Party seems to be the only political organization to swallow their lies.

In fact, they might be the only governing body in the world that disputes climate change is happening. Islands going under water, glaciers around the world melting, unprecedented catastrophic weather events … nothing seems to register with them.

Every scientific organization in the world that conducts climate research has determined the planet is heating up and fossil fuels are the cause. This includes our nation’s premier scientific organizations such as the American Meteorological Association, American Geophysical Union, National Academy of Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In fact, every nation in the world, and every national science academy in the world, accepts that global warming threatens our world — except the Republican Party.

Nothing seems to faze them. Is it because the Republican Party gets massive contributions from their benefactors in the oil and gas industry? A peer-reviewed study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that in 2018, 88% of oil and gas contributions went to the Republican Party.

To paraphrase Upton Sinclair, it is difficult for politicians to understand something when their political donations depend on them not understanding it.

The only way things will change is if we vote every single one of these climate-denying politicians out of office.

Patty Satalia

State College