Hurricane Helene in North Carolina has become the deadliest storm since Katrina in recent days with a death toll standing at nearly 200 people. This deadly disaster rightfully has many Americans fearful for the rise in extremity of hurricanes and other extreme weather events. This fear and devastation has been one of the absolute most important focuses in the American public eye as of recent. This clearly raises the question of a larger issue: the effects of climate change.
Both presidential candidates have addressed this concern, heightened by Helene, quite differently. This major storm could have extreme ramifications for the 2024 election results.
North Carolina is a swing state, which in this close of an election is imperative that candidates focus on. The way that theses candidates respond to the public’s concerns regarding this major issue are incredibly important at this point in the race, not only when it comes to swaying North Carolina, bt also when it comes to swaying other voters that may live in other states, but still have family and friends in North Carolina, or a general concern for other citizens.
Unfortunately, in this situation, I cannot see Trump coming out on top with this argument. He has made it very evident that he does not want to limit carbon emissions, and instead wants to increase sourcing natural gasses more locally. Even during the vice presidential debate, we saw JD Vance acknowledging the tragedy, though denouncing climate change, saying things like “let’s say for the sake of argument that is the issue.”
These are poor arguments to make at the time of fear. The Republican party is offering little to no comfort to the American people that they will try to make a concerted change rather than working in the direction against it. The idea that extreme weather patterns are affected by climate change are becoming more widely accepted and mainstream. People are beginning to fear climate change as we can begin to actively see its extreme consequences.
Kamala Harris has made it clear that climate change is a major concern for her party and that she aims to work on integrating clean energy as a larger source, rather than predominant natural gas use.
This issue is extremely important right now and needs to be actively addressed by both parties. This could absolutely define the election, as it is such a prominent number of deaths and takes place in a swing state, making this incredibly telling in how the election will continue.
