Thread by @AliVelshi

1/17
“Physicians raced to provide fluids to patients who arrived breathless, dizzy and drenched in sweat. Others were brought in on stretchers, their body temperatures so high their central nervous systems had shut down…#velshi #climatecrisis

2/17
Those who could still speak told of stifling apartments and sun that made their skin sizzle.”
That quote from the Washington Post sounds like something out of the Sahara Desert. But no. #velshi

3/17
That was life in Portland, Oregon just this past week. Portland’s average temperature in the beginning of July ranges from low 50s to high of 80s. Last week, it reached 115 degrees Fahrenheit. #velshi #climatechange

4/17
Northwest cities like Portland and Seattle, were not built for this kind of heat. Power grids are overwhelmed by the surge of air conditioning. The steaming asphalt roads have warped and cracked under the stress of the heat. #velshi

5/17
The power cables on cable cars in Portland literally melted. And NPR is reporting that hundreds of people have died from the heat in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada since last weekend. #velshi #climatecrisis

6/17
If you’re worried that #climatechange is coming. Stop worrying because the #ClimateCrisis… it’s here. We are living, right now, in a climate dystopia. The West is on fire, roads are *melting* and people are dropping dead in the heat. #velshi

7/17
Hurricanes come earlier in the season, more frequently and, often, because of warmer seas and changes in the prevailing winds, have more devastating effects. One is about to bear down on Florida. This is serious. But most of us have known that. #velshi

8/17
Even the people and companies that tell us climate change isn’t real, have known that. Last week an Exxon Mobil lobbyist was caught on camera saying the bad parts out loud. #velshi

9/17
Undercover activists with Greenpeace, recorded the oil giant's senior director for federal relations admitting to working with “shadow groups” that engage in disinformation campaigns that sow doubt about #climatechange. #velshi

10/17
"Did we aggressively fight against some of the science? Yes. Did we join some of these shadow groups to work against some of the early efforts? Yes, that's true… #velshi

11/17
“… But there's nothing illegal about that. we were looking out for our investments. we were looking out for our shareholders.” #velshi

12/17
Exxon later distanced itself from those comments, saying they don’t represent the views of the company - a statement that seems, at best disingenuous. But none of this should surprise us. #velshi

13/17
Oil is a lucrative business. All the better when you addict your customers to it & lie about its most detrimental effects. Like tobacco. like opioids. The #ClimateCrisis threatens the flow of money that lines the pockets of oil executives like the ones at ExxonMobil #velshi

14/17
So they lie & they tell us that our planet does not face an actual existential threat of global warming, air pollution, rising sea levels, drought, floods, wildfires & devastating storms. Wake up and smell the smog. #velshi

15/17
We’ve been betrayed for too long by money-hungry executives and politicians. At least - at least - we have leaders back in the White House who understand this crisis. I'm not a scientist, but I believe we are in a #climatecrisis, and want to try to stop it. #velshi

16/17
If I am wrong - and global warming isn’t real - my actions to preserve and burn fewer fossil fuels hurts nobody, except some oil executives and shareholders. If I am wrong, we just get to live on a more beautiful planet with cleaner air, more trees and less garbage. #velshi

17/17
But if *they* - the climate deniers - are wrong... we, and our children, and their children, will inherit a burning, unlivable planet. The time to make the right decisions about climate has passed. Now it's time to fight for the decision you’ve made. #velshi #climatecrisis