Before beginning, and in fairness to the good people of Menomonie, Wisconsin, whose voting record we examined earlier Tuesday afternoon, let us remember that Texas is the home office for climate denialists among our elected representatives. 

It begins at the top with Tailgunner Ted Cruz, who's been spouting the stupid on this subject heavily for the last few weeks. It runs down through Governor Greg Abbott and indicted attorney general Ken Paxton. And it runs deeply through the Texas congressional delegation, which includes some leading intellectual giants like Lamar Smith and Louie Gohmert, although, to be fair to those other worthies, Gohmert doesn't know much about anything, so it's almost unfair to include him here.

I mention this only because Houston is about to turn into a really bad Kevin Costner film and the climate crisis is one of the main reasons why.

An increase in the frequency of heavy rain events has long been considered one of the likeliest consequences of global warming, and a recent comprehensive National Academies report endorsed this link. Blocking weather patterns like this weekend's may be happening more often due to climate change, boosting the likelihood of heavy rainfall events, according to a new study published last week. This is at least the fourth major flood in the Houston area in just the past 12 months, with previous flooding events last May, June, and October pummeling Texas hard. The triangle between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio is sometimes referred to as "flash flood alley" because of its dangerous mix of hilly terrain, sprawling urbanization, and frequent heavy downpours, adding to the region's already considerable vulnerability to climate change.

Now, it truly would be unkind to remind America that the Tailgunner happened to be one of the loudest voices opposed to federal relief to the victims of Hurricane Sandy. But it's not beneath us to point out that, for a hoax designed to suck up sweet grant money, climate change is doing a nice job drowning his home state.

Headshot of Charles P. Pierce
Charles P. Pierce

Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has three children.