MervisNov, J. (2018, November 13). With Democrats in control of U.S. House, science panel gets fresh start. Retrieved from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/democrats-control-us-house-science-panel-gets-fresh-start
As the Democrats gained a majority in the house of representatives after the midterm elections, there is solid speculation that Democrats will be able to have a positive impact on United States environmental policy. With an added check and balance of the House, Democrats can now approve or disapprove initiatives related to the environment before they are passed. The policy examined here would include things like the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency, which has routinely been cut in past years.
Even as a nonpartisan citizen, I am encouraged by the fact that Democrats now have control of the house of representatives on the basis of climate and environmental policy. In recent years, the democratic party has been much more active in the role of progressive climate initiatives. I think that this will have an overall positive effect on the environment because not only can there now be higher quality and quantity of initiatives proposed, Â but there is also another level of verification for things like environmental policy rollbacks and other movements of that nature.
I also identify as nonpartisan, but this doesn’t seem all too promising to me. I still think republicans and our president will be able to block climate change from becoming a focus for America. Even more terrifying is their reach on the public. More and more people are getting exposed to this blatant ignorance of science, and I fear that the public isn’t shifting their consciousness to be more aware of environmental issues. This should be a bipartisan issue, but our president and many republicans aren’t paying attention to data and facts that are presented to them by specialists in their respective fields. That to me is such a large issue, and I don’t see this getting the immediate attention I think it deserves. In my eyes, I picture government only dealing with issues that affect pretty much the entire population. Climate change is one of those issues.
All good points. Hopefully a step in the right direction still! 🙂