[whydoyoucare]

Was her message to (failing to) act imply actual technical steps and commitment to reduce certain variables in certain years or increase taxes? I am confused here.

sarcasm And yes, of course, global warming is the biggest existential threat to humanity. Poverty, hunger, addiction, homelessness, open defecation, and other trivial issues aren't really the ones Governments' should prioritize, it should be protecting humpback whales and ecosystems! sarcasm

Realize there are finite amount of resources any Government can direct towards any problem. If all attention and resources go to global warming (which is open ended problem as compared to poverty), then we will end up with disastrous consequences, both to humans and to the planet.

[ball_of_lint]

This is a straw man. No one thinks climate change is the only thing a government should spend money on. Many do think it has not been taken as seriously as it ought to be given the significance of the harms it leads to.

[papermachete]

So why would the government spend a single dollar on climate change when other more serious and more immediate problems are on fire?

[danaris]

Poverty, hunger, addiction, homelessness, etc, are all bad, but they are bad on an individual level, with secondary negative societal effects.

Global warming is an existential threat to modern civilization. If we allow it to continue unchecked, it will result in catastrophic changes in prevailing weather patterns, sea level, and animal and plant life. These might not be enough to wipe out all human life on the planet—we might very well even be able to recover from it, eventually—but it is likely to create enough instability worldwide to cause many major governments to topple.

Now, again, this is if we let it go completely unchecked, and none of this is stuff that would happen within a year or two. But we're already seeing some of the effects, and there's nothing to suggest we won't see the rest if we just shrug our shoulders and say, "Eh, there are other important things, too."

[thelazydogsback]

> Poverty, hunger, addiction, homelessness

Most of which get worse w/climate change

[whydoyoucare]

Any reliable references indicating a causal effect? Thanks.

[viklove]

https://www.pnas.org/content/112/11/3241.short

You're welcome!

[AlexandrB]

Poverty, hunger, homelessness are all going to get worse in a warming world. Either due to houses being wiped out (e.e Florida). Loss of arable land and consequent food price increases. Or loss of entire industries (fishing). But sure. Global warming is about saving humpback whales...