A Brief History of Climate Change: Why It Matters to Tuolumne County Residents

In 1959, oil and gas industry scientists informed their management that burning fossil fuel products would begin to warm the planet, leading to an unstable climate. Management decided to suppress the science and defend their profits (1).

In 1969, U.S. astronauts landed on the moon. The required technologies made America the world’s technological powerhouse. Yet industry misinformation would continue to suppress climate science, allowing China to capture world leadership in alternative clean energy.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan claimed “government is the problem” and recommended deregulation of business, cutting business taxes, and undermining union wages to create a wealthier economy that would “trickle down” to benefit American citizens (2). The result has been the transfer of $51 trillion from government and working Americans to the wealthiest citizens with no sign of “trickle down.” Since the Reagan era, the general trend has been supporting industry and discounting science whenever it has limited industry.

In 1985, Carl Sagan, one of America’s foremost scientists, spoke before Congress about the “greenhouse effect” (3). Sagan explained that burning fossil fuels would result in sea rise, drought, wildfires, and explosive storms. He urged Congress to curtail the use of fossil fuels, which are the source of atmospheric pollution leading to global warming.

In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizens United, thereby removing contribution limits on independent expenditures supporting or opposing federal campaigns. Super PACs (Political Action Committees) now raise unlimited funds from corporations, unions, associations, and individuals and have supercharged the fossil fuels industry’s ability to affect national policy (4). Climate scientists, without access to deep pockets, have lost a voice in government as well as their ability to better inform the public.

Meanwhile, unhampered global warming continues. We see our Foothills region’s droughts culminating in dry forests that easily explode into disastrous, wind-driven wildfires. U.S. wildfires are four times larger, three times more frequent since 2000 (5). The insurance industry can’t fund wildfire losses that exceed their profits, and premiums are exorbitant or unattainable (6). Our climate is evolving so fast that soon neither the State of California nor the federal government will be able to help offset dollar losses from climate disasters.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now is being dismantled to stop the flow of scientific information to the public (7). Again, industry is allowed to define the government’s role. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s ability to respond to America’s disasters also is being gutted, losing critical personnel and funding.

NOTES

1. Charlotte Taylor, “Defense, Denial, and Disinformation: Uncovering the Oil Industry’s Early Knowledge of Climate Change,” Common Home, The Earth Commons, Georgetown University, October 25, 2020.
2. “Inaugural Address 1981,” National Archives, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.
3. “The Greenhouse Effect—Carl Sagan Testifies” (Video of 1985 Speech to Congress), MarineBio Blog, The MarineBio Conservation Society.
4. Daniel Wiener and Tim Lau, “Citizens United Explained,”  Brennan Center for Justice, December 12, 2029; updated January 29, 2025.
5. Virginia Igelesias, “US Wildfires Four Times Larger, Three Times More Frequent Since 2000,” CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research at the University of Colorado, Boulder), March 15, 2022.
6. Jason Pohl, “What’s next for home insurance in California after the Los Angeles fires?” UC Berkeley News, UC Regents, January 14, 2025.
7. Matthew Daly, “Trump Environmental Rollbacks Would Boost Pollution and Endanger Lives, Former EPA Heads Say,” Politics, Associated Press, March 13, 2025.