Like most Americans, I was saddened watching the attempted coup unfold in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
Unfortunately, I was not surprised, shocked or stunned.
After all, the rioters were acting on the poisonous diet of lies they had been fed by President Donald Trump — lies that were repeated or never challenged by almost every Republican officeholder in the nation.
And as someone who covers the safety of our environment and the survival of Louisiana’s coastal zone, I’ve been reporting on a similar coup for more than four years now — the coup against scientific facts being waged by our president and his enablers in Congress and state houses across the nation.
Wednesday’s violence wasn’t the result of a small group of radicals. It was the inevitable destination of a road marked with flashing signposts erected by the political leaders of millions of Americans. For weeks these leaders told them they should deny the facts and believe the fictions about fraud, dead voters, stolen ballots and conspiracies led by a long-dead dictator, even those that had been proven false in courts. So on Jan. 6, they acted on those instructions.
When order was finally restored I wanted to scream as some of those leaders — such as Steve Scalise, Garret Graves, John Kennedy, Josh Hawley and Mitch McConnell — claimed they were saddened or shocked by the insurrection but added that Americans were “deeply troubled” by reports of “irregularities” in the election. Of course, those reports were spread — in spite of the facts — by the very same people. It was like arsonists soaking a building with gas, then being shocked at the inferno when someone else lights a match.
The same leaders have been fueling the coup on the scientific facts about how and why our coast is sinking, crumbling and drowning.
When those facts show loosely regulated oil and gas exploration was a major factor in the loss of almost 2,000 square miles of our bottom third, they said that wasn’t true and shouldn’t be stopped — or they had “doubts” about the studies.
When the facts showed the carbon emissions from fossil fuels was a major cause of the acceleration in sea level rise the state’s scientists have found could drown much of our bottom third despite our $92 billion coastal projects, they said that was a lie — or they had doubts.
When Trump called the scientific facts and measurements on global warming a hoax, they agreed, were silent — or had doubts.
When scientific facts showed Trump’s rollbacks on air and water pollution regulations would increase sickness and deaths, they ignored them or had doubts.
When scientific facts showed this state — as much of the world — would suffer unavoidable economic and social collapse if emissions are not significantly reduced very soon, they said it was a lie — or there were questions about the facts.
So, many of their followers believe them.
This diet of lies hasn’t resulted in the storming of a building but has been just as damaging to our future. It has blocked critical legislation and reforms that could reduce future damage.
As the damage mounts the political leaders that have long denied or doubted the scientific truths behind it will likely say they are shocked and surprised by the results.
And when they do, remember Jan. 6, 2021.