by Julie Steiner
Gallup’s annual survey of American attitudes about global warming, published last week, shows that Democrats are increasingly in agreement with the scientific consensus. A whopping 82 percent of Democrats said they believe that the effects of global warming have already begun. Meanwhile, only 29 percent of Republicans did, a record low. That’s a gap of 53 points; for comparison, in 2001, the gap was a mere 13 points. —Grist, April 13, 2021
The climate is extreme
these days: wet/dry, hot/cold.
But we are not to blame.
“An act of God,” we deem
each drought or flood. Behold,
the climate is extreme,
but man can’t cause, or tame,
such swings. They’re manifold,
but we are not to blame.
Fossil fuels may seem
at fault—to schoolgirls told
the climate is extreme
because of our regime
(and how we love black gold).
But we are not to blame:
before the Age of Steam,
catastrophes still rolled.
The climate is extreme.
Just is. Let experts scheme—
they’ve threatened, wept, cajoled—
but “We are not to blame”
remains our constant theme:
“Earth’s massive. Man can’t mold
the climate. Is extreme
misfortune—freeze or flame—
new-fangled? No, age-old,
bud! We are not to blame.”
As more disasters came,
we, too, came forth, to scold,
“The climate is extreme
in politics. For shame!
Poor sheeple, you’ve been trolled,
but we are not Tube-lame.”
The more we play this game,
the more R’s say (when polled)
the climate is extreme,
but we are not to blame.
Julie Steiner is a pseudonym in San Diego. Besides TheNewVerse.News, the venues in which her poetry has appeared include the Able Muse Review, Rattle, Light, and the Asses of Parnassus.