120 people are dead because of Hurricane Helene, Jim Inhofe, and me

For over a decade, I was an exploration geologist. I traveled all over the United States, from Appalachia to Alaska, drilling holes into the ground, making maps, performing analyses, and developing plans. Much of the work took place in an area of Wyoming and Montana called the Powder River Basin. Some of it led directly to North Antelope–Rochelle, the largest coal mine in the world.

At its peak, that single mine produced over 110 million tons of coal a year. Over its lifespan, it has produced over 1.8 billion tons of coal. Burning that coal added over 4.5 billion tons of CO2 to our atmosphere.

I know that if I hadn’t done it, they would have hired someone else. And I’m not deluded enough to believe I’m solely responsible; millions of others had a hand in it. But when I look at the waves washing over the coast of Florida and floods drowning Asheville, North Carolina, I recognize my work.

It’s also the work of former Sen. Jim Inhofe, Sen. John Cornyn, Sen. John Thune, and everyone who spent five decades denying what we already knew well enough by the 1970s. It’s the ongoing, in-progress work of Donald Trump, J. D. Vance, Mitch McConnell, Joe Manchin, Jamie Dimon, Charles Koch, and all those who still hold the money they get from fossil fuel companies more precious than the lives, homes, and futures of their neighbors.

Many of them will be out there finding fault with how the government is responding to this disaster. Most of them will pretend to be outraged about the efforts being made to rescue people from floods and take care of those displaced. None of them will step up to admitting their role.

Media outlets will still tell you that there’s no way to tie this particular storm to the human-caused climate crisis. They can probably still trot out a supposed expert or two to agree. But you know it’s bullshit. They know it’s bullshit. It’s bullshit.

Because the waters were warmer, the winds were higher. Because the waters were warmer, the storm surge was stronger. Because the water was warmer, the rainfall was intensified. And the water was warmer because of us.

Hurricane Helene is another reminder that the crisis isn’t ahead, it’s here. We caused it. Only we can fix it. The cost of inaction is measured in lives. And nowhere is safe.

What's happening in the southeastern United States this week is only what's already been happening in other places around the world. The difference this time is that it's American towns, American homes, and Americans who are suffering.

The story of the climate crisis is one of many disasters that happen everywhere. It's something that you see every day on the news, in some distant place. Then it's not some distant place. Then it's you.

Over 120 people have died in the American South because of wind, storm surge, and flooding following Hurricane Helene. But those are only a fraction of the thousands who will lose their lives and the millions who will be made homeless.