United States: Democrats’ failure on Trump’s climate cuts shows need for independent mass movement

July 24, 2025
Issue 
Flooded street
Trump’s proposed budget plans to slash funding to vital climate agencies. Photo: Ric Aguiar

The deadly flash flood in Texas, United States — where the Guadalupe River rose 8 metres in just 45 minutes on July 4 and flooding killed at least 135 people — is another sign of the increasing climate disasters around the world: floods, droughts, fires, heatwaves and more, driven by global heating. It also exposes the global failure to prepare for, or mitigate, these disasters.

Back in 1981, James Hansen, a scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Goddard Space Institute, postulated that rising global temperatures — up by 0.5–0.7°C in the previous century — were due to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. He had studied the atmosphere of Venus and applied his findings to the Earth’s atmosphere.

In 1988, he presented his findings to US Congress, warning that continued emissions, especially carbon dioxide, would increase global temperature and that this would have increasing effects on world climate. Congress ignored him.

Hansen became an activist. While once in a minority, as the effects of global warming became more apparent, his explanation is now mainstream scientific consensus.

The facts are clear, and the predictions dire: global warming is accelerating and global temperature is on the cusp of surpassing 1.5°C, even if fossil fuel use stopped today. Existing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere — mostly carbon dioxide, but also methane, from the extraction and burning of fossil fuels — will continue to heat the planet.

If the science is known, and the knowledge that unchecked global warming will eventually mean the end of civilisation, humanity and countless other life forms, why hasn’t humanity taken serious action — first and foremost by rapidly ending fossil fuel extraction and burning?

Capitalism is the problem

The answer is that the capitalist system, which now dominates the world, cannot do it. The first steps would have to be taken by rich countries — historically responsible for the most carbon dioxide and methane emissions — not by the poor countries that can least afford to but suffer the most from global warming’s effects.

However, capitalist competition within the rich countries blocks this from happening: if any bloc of industries were to begin moving unilaterally, this would increase their costs and competitors would crush them. Overcoming competition would require planning of the economy, something that is anathema to capitalism.

Tackling global warming requires international cooperation between all countries to limit and eliminate greenhouse gases, because the atmosphere covers the whole world. The current system cannot achieve this, because the entire history of capitalism is one of international competition, often very sharp, and even leading to wars.

Only with the overthrow of capitalism and its replacement with a cooperative, democratic system that prioritises human need over profit — ecosocialism — can we hope to avert catastrophe.

The present world is far from that. But we can reasonably hope that as climate disasters mount, understanding of capitalism’s role — and the need for socialist alternatives — will grow, especially among the working class, the only class whose objective interests lie in such a system. The other dynamics of capitalism, as explained by Karl Marx, and its wars — which impact working people most of all — will also play an important part.

Meanwhile, we must fight for immediate anti-capitalist reforms targeting the causes of global warming and mitigation measures, while explaining the need for planning in a cooperative society.

Mitigation needed

The deadly flash flooding in Texas shows that better understanding of weather, early warning systems, rapid water-level monitoring, preventative planning in flood-prone areas and greater allotment of resources are all necessary.

Similar mitigation measures must be taken to protect populations in drought-prone areas. Forest management must be better understood and implemented to reduce the dangers of bushfires.

Deadly heatwaves, as we have seen in countries like Bangladesh, require increased cooling measures.

The knowledge and engineering to do this exists and must be stepped up. Rich countries owe a climate debt to poor countries for being responsible for the lion’s share of historical and current emissions.

The US should be taking the lead. Instead, Democrat and Republican administrations have expanded fossil fuel production and neglected to take adequate mitigation measures. Former President Joe Biden offered only rhetoric — giving lip service to opposing global warming while doing nothing.

Donald Trump openly denies climate change altogether — and his recently passed “Big Beautiful Bill” is making things worse, by slashing funding to vital agencies.

Budget cuts

A July 14 New York Times article, “Cuts Endanger U.S. Response to Calamities”, details how Trump’s administration has gutted the National Weather Service (NWS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), stripping away staff, research and disaster preparedness capacity.

Staff dismissals, budget cuts and other changes since January have hollowed out the NWS, which forecasts and advises of dangerous weather. Nearly half of the NWS’s 122 forecast offices had lost at least 20% of their staff by April, the article says. Thirty offices were lacking their most experienced official, known as the meteorologist in charge, by May.

Trump’s proposed budget plans to cut NOAA’s entire scientific research division, one of the world’s premier weather and climate research centres, which develops new weather forecasting technologies. There are plans to close 10 NOAA research laboratories — which undertake climate research crucial to more accurately predicting life-threatening hazards — and cut “hurricane hunter” teams that fly into storms to collect data.

The budget would also make big cuts to a federal program that uses river gauges to predict floods.

Trump is planning to dramatically scale down the FEMA, shifting disaster response and recovery costs from the federal government to the states. The administration has already revoked US$3.6 billion in FEMA grants, which were used to protect against bushfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters. About 16% of FEMA’s staff have left since January, and another 20% are expected to be gone by the end of the year, the article says.

At NASA, Trump wants to halve earth science funding and shut down satellites that have been collecting data on the atmosphere, ocean, land and ice for more than two decades, the article says.

The Republican majority in Congress will back Trump’s budget. Democrats, for their part, fail to say what they will reverse should they form the next administration, just as they do with Trump’s decrees, massive tax cuts for the rich at workers’ expense and other regressive measures.

Trump hopes that his whirlwind of decrees and his Big Beautiful Bill become fait accompli — hard to reverse even if the Democrats wanted to, which they show no appetite for.

We need a mass movement, independent of the capitalist parties, which can force action and fight for the systemic change needed to stop climate disaster.

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