Political Disaster: What Coronavirus Tells Us About Climate Change
By Stephen Leas
The coronavirus pandemic has rapidly and unexpectedly changed our lives in fundamental ways, and the earth seems to be shifting from under our feet. It has laid bare the structural incapacity of the U.S. to handle unexpected large-scale crises. And this one is going to feel small compared to what climate change has in store for us.
As we sit and wait in the coming weeks and months, it’s important to remember that this is in some ways a test run. Climate change will worsen public health outcomes and lead to further spread of infectious disease and probably more social distancing. Pandemics will be just one element of the challenge. Climate change is the ultimate threat multiplier, because when massive disasters compound, life-threatening circumstances collide and complicate our ability to respond. We must expect more from our politicians and more from ourselves as well as a civil society.
The first impact of coronavirus in the U.S., hopefully, will be the sudden realization of the necessity of Medicare for All. Currently 27.5 million people lack health insurance in the U.S. and 44% of Americans have declined to see a doctor due to cost. Without publicly-provided health care and mandated paid sick leave — the bedrocks of Bernie Sanders’ platform — the U.S. is now a hotbed of disease transmission. While the poor suffer most from these conditions, the disease does not discriminate. So, in a sort of karmic reordering of conditions, people who scoff at Medicare for All proposals now face a situation in which their own well being is directly tied to the well being of the uninsured.
The system that caused these conditions was already broken, but Donald Trump managed to make it worse. Downplaying the severity of the crisis, stripping leadership roles from public health professionals, and refusing test kits from the World Health Organization are all reasons to condemn his administration. Stocks suffered the largest fall since 1987, so markets agree that our institutions are no longer equipped to handle public health crises. We now should all know that paying for good public health outcomes isn’t a drag on the economy. It’s a requirement, and one that also works to maintain the economic conditions investors want.
The response to coronavirus from the top two Democratic Party presidential candidates couldn’t be more different. While Joe Biden gave a vague speech lacking in detail, Bernie Sanders laid out a specific and reassuring plan that included paid sick leave, emergency unemployment assistance to anyone who loses their job, construction of emergency homeless shelters, and an immediate moratorium on evictions, foreclosures, and utility shutoffs. More of Sanders’ ideas will be copied by Trump, Democratic House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other mainstream politicians. But without strong leadership what seems likely is just watered-down versions that won’t protect people.
The urgent necessity to dive in with these policies should be clear to us: what will we do when climate crises worsen, and become regular? If our structurally unequal system is failing to protect even older and wealthier people from an immediate crisis, how can we expect it to prepare for worsening crises that will affect younger and poorer people? The answer, again, comes from Sanders’ progressive wing of the American left. To be specific, the answer is the Green New Deal.
Along with Medicare for All, the Green New Deal would address climate change in ways that also reduce the risks everyday Americans face. Green jobs will put vulnerable people to work on an energy transition that will help us avoid the worst impacts of climate change — if we act fast enough.
The package would put money in people’s pockets, put less greenhouse gases into the air, and reduce the disease burdens we already live with. It is only possible through strong leadership and an engaged civil society. Bernie Sanders is clearly that leader, and we are responsible for becoming that society.
ends
Stephen Leas holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Maryland, and puts his beliefs into action working with Sunrise Movement Baltimore and Extinction Rebellion DC Buddhists.
