Joe’s story
Joe grew up in the same town his whole life. He knows every street, every neighbor, every bend in the creek behind his house. Last August, that creek flooded for the third time in five years. The first time it flooded in his dad’s memory was 1987.
His basement took on four feet of water. He lost his water heater, his furnace, his washer and dryer. His homeowner’s insurance covered some of it — but they raised his premium by $800 a year afterward. His neighbor two doors down couldn’t get coverage renewed at all.
Joe isn’t a scientist. He doesn’t follow climate policy. But he knows what he sees. The storms are worse. The summers are hotter. The fires out west are on the news every single year now.
Joe wants to know why nothing is being done about it — and who is stopping it.
The facts, plain and simple
27
Separate billion-dollar weather disasters in the US in 2024 alone
$182B
Total cost of US weather disasters in 2024 — 568 lives lost
$149B
Average annual disaster cost 2020–2024, up from $22B/year in the 1980s
1.5°C
2024 was the first year global temps exceeded this Paris Agreement threshold
Average annual disaster costs in the US have quadrupled since the 1980s — not because Americans got unluckier, but because the climate has measurably changed. NOAA’s own data shows the ten most expensive years for weather disasters have all happened since 2011.
And here’s what makes Joe’s story even more personal: as disasters increase, insurance companies are fleeing. Homeowners in Florida, California, Louisiana, and now increasingly the Midwest are finding their coverage dropped or priced out of reach. The climate crisis isn’t just an environmental problem. It’s hitting people’s wallets right now.
What Republicans have done about it
Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement — twice
In 2017, with encouragement from 22 Republican senators including Mitch McConnell, Trump pulled the US out of the Paris climate accord. Biden rejoined in 2021. Trump withdrew again on his first day back in January 2025.
Nearly every House Republican voted against staying in Paris
When Democrats passed the Climate Action Now Act to keep the US in the Paris Agreement, only 3 out of 197 House Republicans voted yes.
Republicans are dismantling NOAA’s disaster tracking
In 2025, the Trump administration shut down NOAA’s billion-dollar disaster database — the 45-year scientific record used to track the costs of extreme weather.
Republicans gutted the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy investments
The IRA had created 406,000 clean energy jobs and triggered $422 billion in private investment by January 2025. Republicans moved to gut it.
What could actually change things
Clean energy is an economic opportunity, not a sacrifice
The countries moving fastest on clean energy are creating the most jobs. Every solar panel and wind turbine the US doesn’t build gets built by China instead.
Every dollar spent on prevention saves six in disaster costs
FEMA’s own research shows that every $1 invested in disaster mitigation saves $6 in recovery costs. Acting on climate now is not just right — it’s fiscally responsible.
The military takes it seriously — even when Congress won’t
The Pentagon and US intelligence community have repeatedly identified climate change as a top national security threat. Droughts destabilize governments. Rising seas threaten military bases.
When someone pushes back — what to say
They say:
“The climate has always changed. This is natural.”
You’re right that climate changes naturally over thousands of years. But what’s happening now is happening over decades — a hundred times faster than natural cycles. Insurance companies aren’t pulling out of Florida because they think it’s a hoax. They’re following the data.
They say:
“Why should we sacrifice our economy when China isn’t doing anything?”
China is actually the world’s largest investor in clean energy. American companies are already losing clean energy contracts to Chinese manufacturers. Staying out of Paris doesn’t protect American jobs. It surrenders them.
They say:
“One country can’t fix the whole planet.”
The US is the second biggest emitter on earth and the world’s largest economy. When we lead, others follow. And practically speaking: the floods, fires, and hurricanes hitting American towns right now don’t care whether we signed a treaty. The damage is happening regardless.
The answer to the climate crisis is SVR.
Stop Voting Republican — until they stop protecting fossil fuel profits over your future.
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