‘Who will pay for climate change? You will, until we break the fossil fuel addiction.’
William Becker at The Hill
We “cannot afford to ignore the current battle over who will pay the rapidly rising costs of climate-intensified weather disasters,” says William Becker. The “rising costs of weather disasters will come out of every American’s pocket,” which will be “inevitable if the U.S. remains addicted to fossil fuels.” So “long as the nation’s fossil fuel addiction persists, every outcome leads to their pocketbooks.” The “only way to stop the economic bleeding is to shift to 100% clean energy.”
‘Online sexual abuse of kids is getting worse. But vigilantes aren’t the answer.’
Teresa Huizar at USA Today
Predators “no longer need to be physically close to harm a child,” and a “growing community of self-styled ‘pedophile hunters’ is emerging online,” says Teresa Huizar. Vigilantes “may believe they’re administering justice,” but “in reality, they’re interfering with investigations, putting bystanders in danger and — if turning to violence — committing crimes themselves.” This “does nothing to help children who are abused online.” Kids “don’t need mob justice, but rather a stronger legal approach and more resources for law enforcement.”
‘It sure looks like anti-Trump protest fatigue has vanished’
Zeeshan Aleem at MSNBC
It’s “satisfying that such a vast number of Americans came out” to “reject Trump’s autocratic agenda,” says Zeeshan Aleem. It’s “even more satisfying to notice that taking to the streets is emerging as a habit of the body politic: Mass protests are becoming more common, and fatigue from resisting Trump seems to have ebbed in a definitive way.” The “momentum is building, and when public protest movements become big and loud enough, they can be a source of energy.”
‘Gavin’s last gasp’
John Gerardi at the National Review
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has “stacked failures on top of failures,” says John Gerardi. He is “angering both liberals and conservatives,” and his “prospects for the presidency — and, thereby, any continuing political relevance — are fading away.” The “only way Gavin Newsom can credibly forge any kind of political future is if he can turn himself into the country’s leading anti-Trump, ‘No Kings’ hero.” All of “Newsom’s failures have this nonpartisan character.”
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
