Every day, it seems, brings another headline about an extreme weather event. A wildfire destroys homes. A heat wave shatters temperature records. Floodwaters overwhelm communities. A hurricane grows stronger and more destructive. We have become accustomed to scrolling past these disasters, watching them unfold on the news and then moving on with our day. None of this is normal. The last 11 years have been the hottest 11 years on record. Europe just saw its worst heat wave in recorded history that set all time heat records and killed more than 10,000 people, and caused the worst heat stress ever in half of the continent’s largest cities. In both the United States and Canada, this summer’s heat and drought is driving longer and more intense wildfire seasons, including the more than 800 wildfires across Canada and northern Minnesota that caused dangerous levels of ozone and air pollution. In Connecticut Air Quality Index levels hit over 200 for days, which is considered hazardous. Climate change is no longer a distant threat. It is today’s reality. As Connecticut residents were breathing dirty smogged air in July, the climate misinformation grew. But the facts speak for themselves: Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last two decades.   Research shows that climate change is creating warmer, drier conditions that contribute to longer and more intense wildfire seasons. Rising temperatures and increased atmospheric drying caused by human-induced climate change have made forest vegetation and other fuels drier during the fire season, increasing the risk and severity of wildfires. For decades, the oil and gas industry has perpetuated the fraud that natural gas is clean and a climate solution, despite knowing that it is a significant source of air pollution and a major contributor to climate change. The gas industry knew as early as 1907 that methane gas was a source of respiratory problems when burned indoors, and by the 1950s it knew that gas caused problems in outdoor air. Beginning in the 1960s, the oil and gas industry learned of another threat, emerging science showed that natural gas was a potentially significant contributor to methane in the atmosphere. As fossil fuel companies and their representatives closely monitored scientific developments on methane, the chemical name for natural gas, they also learned that it was a potent greenhouse gas and damaging for the climate. The gas industry ignored these warnings and did everything they could to escape accountability while continuing to keep us reliant on this fossil fuel. For some people, climate change remains an abstract debate, until the wildfire reaches their backyard, their home floods, or extreme heat threatens their health and livelihood. But climate change does not wait for people to believe in it. It does not care about political boundaries, state lines, or ideology. The impacts are already here, and sooner or later, more people will be forced to confront the reality that climate change is not someone else’s problem, it is everyone’s problem. Connecticut is not immune to climate change and our state has been facing the costly effect. While communities are paying the price of worsening climate disasters, Big Oil continues to rake in record profits. Families are paying more for energy, while communities are forced to bear the rising costs of wildfire smoke, extreme heat, flooding, and other climate impacts. The companies that helped fuel this crisis should not be allowed to continue profiting while the public pays the bill. When is enough enough? Big Oil shouldn’t profit while our communities pay the cost. It’s time to make polluters pay . Julianna Larue is Chapter Organizer for Sierra Club Connecticut. ...read more read less