Climate change continues to be politicized while wildfires and flash floods destroy us

It’s been a summer of non-stop squalls and air-quality warnings. Climate change is no longer some vague futuristic threat, but today’s reality, as flash floods, wildfires and extreme weather are only slated to become far more common — and more deadly.

You’d think those who refute human-caused climate change would have started to clue in by now, but to paraphrase Rick James, denial “is a hell of a drug.”

U.S. Republicans are busy complaining that smoke from Canadian wildfires is ruining summer for Americans, while simultaneously signing Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill, which provides incentives for fossil fuel production. 

The Canadian Conservative Party in the meantime has consistently denied the climate crisis and opposed any significant federal measures to address it as “attacks on the oil and gas industry,” while CPC leader Pierre Poilievre has voted against the environment and climate nearly 400 times during his 20-year career. 

This, while torrential rains in central Texas on July 4 caused the Guadalupe River to rise 8 metres in 45 minutes, causing flash floods that killed 134 people, including 27 children. Heavy rain caused flooding in New York and New Jersey, leaving two people dead. Spain just experienced massive floods. No city’s infrastructure was designed to handle our increasingly volatile climate.

Montreal, too, was recently pummelled by more than 100mm (a month’s worth of rain) falling in a single day, wreaking havoc on roads, flooding homes and causing power outages across Quebec. 

Yet the Venn diagram of people who mocked the Plante administration when they announced they’d be increasing sponge parks and sidewalks to better absorb rainwater and prevent Montreal’s sewer system from being overwhelmed, and the people now acting like the mayor is personally responsible for climate change, is one giant circle. What gives? 

Global temperatures are only projected to increase. Denial is no longer a viable strategy. It’s time we stop acting surprised by what scientists told us long ago was going to happen, and mobilize. ■

Climate change continues to be politicized while wildfires and flash floods destroy us

“It’s time we stop acting surprised by what scientists told us long ago was going to happen, and mobilize.”

An editorial by @ToulasTake. https://t.co/YHCc3xIdZq

— Cult MTL (@cultmtl) July 22, 2025

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Read more weekly editorial columns by Toula Drimonis.