For Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, the severe drought hitting the heartland could very well bring the impact of climate change home to more Americans. Sachs criticized corporate propaganda for effectively playing up doubts about climate change. Sachs thinks this drought’s effects will be undeniable.
“This is a shock being felt by middle America. The Midwest of the US hasn’t seen anything like this,” he said on NOW with Alex Wagner. “I’m sure it’s going to change politics. We see already in opinion surveys that Americans thing ‘Something’s wrong,’ and ‘Humans are changing the earth in dangerous ways.’ Those numbers are soaring. People don’t need to be convinced [anymore] as they see it with their own eyes.”
Sachs predicts higher food prices next year. “Americans are used to higher prices at the gas pumps. It’ll be a lot harder to explain why their grocery bill is growing up dramatically.”
Sachs says both parties need to step up, and is especially critical of the ethanol mandate. “We are putting a huge part of our corn production into the gas tank, where it does not belong, taking it out of our food supply.”
“The ethanol scam, which has been a scam for powerful corporate interests is something that has to go,” he added. One-third of House members have signed a letter urging the EPA to relax ethanol production targets in light of corn supply concerns and spiking prices.