"When Pompeo blithely talks about relocation, he's not just talking about folks in coastal Florida, but friends and neighbors in his native Kansas," John Avlon said.
June 10, 2019

John Avlon announces that Mike Pompeo has solved our climate problems.

"Hey guys. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo finally has a plan to deal with climate change: You should get ready to move, as in relocate. Seriously. In an interview with the Washington Times, Pompeo says 'Society has reorganized, we move to different place, develop technology and innovation. We'll do the things necessary as the climate changes.'

"I'm all for innovating our way out of a problem, but that's if you admit you have a problem. That's what the Trump administration refuses to do as a matter of policy when it comes to climate change. Pompeo saying, quote, 'The climate has been changing for a long time,' which not coincidentally, is echoing his boss earlier in the week.

TRUMP: I believe that there is a change in weather and I think it changes both ways.

"Pompeo blasted the Paris climate accords, calling it aspirational, but still putting a real burden on ordinary people in 'places like Kansas that I come from.' Speaking of burdens on ordinary people in places like Kansas, the state and the region is suffering from disastrous flooding, record smashing rainfall in May, another five inches falling in the last week alone. Roads are closed, railroads severely damaged, they can't be fixed until things dry out and shipments are backing up. That puts pressure on trucking companies.

"It turns out that maybe climate change isn't good for shipping lanes, as Pompeo said. This is in line with what the EPA warned in 2016, quote, 'Kansas' climate is changing, soil is becoming dryer, rainstorms becoming more intense, floods more severe.' The current administration's own climate change assessment singles out Kansas and its neighbors for some of the worst effects of climate change. Kansas can expect average temperatures to rise by as much as four degrees by the end of the century, leading to more flooding, more droughts, more wildfires.

"Get this. Kansas can also expect to see the number of days over 100 degrees to explode by as much as 30. Think about that. 30 additional days of triple-digit temperatures. So when Pompeo blithely talks about relocation, he's not just talking about folks in coastal Florida, he's talking about friends and neighbors in his native Kansas, whether he know it or not. Denial is not a strategy, but the Trump administration is committed to the ostrich-like approach, even trying to shut up its own experts that don't fit the party line.

"Here is the latest example. The Washington Post and New York Times reporting the White House went to unprecedented lengths to silence a State Department senior intelligence analyst because his congressional testimony called climate change 'possibly catastrophic.' Trump officials marked up almost every page of the original draft objecting to scientific facts it contained, like stating the past five years have been the warmest on record. Then the administration took the extraordinary step of refusing to okay the written testimony for the permanent congressional record.

"The analyst testified before Congress on Wednesday anyway, proving the Trump administration can continue to use its own hot air to fight hot temperatures -- but ultimately, the truth will out."

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