Apparently, conservatives have never much understood the old saying “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Florida Governor Ron DiSantis brazenly berated any attempts to reduce the spread of the virus and now faces a crisis. Down in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott made a big deal about banning mask and vaccine mandates. Yesterday, he announced that he would be importing health workers from out of state to care for the surging COVID patients that are overwhelming hospitals in the state. 

Across the country, conservatives have protested virtually any public effort to curb the spread of the virus, preferring instead to let it wreak havoc on health systems and vulnerable communities. Hospitalizations are skyrocketing and deaths are climbing to protect the freedom of ignorant people to choose not to protect their families and neighbors. Prevention measures might not completely stop the spread, but they could certainly keep a lot of cases at bay. Nine of the ten states with the highest case rates are run by Republicans.  

But it’s not just COVID. Scientists have been warning for decades that climate change caused by human activity would result in catastrophic changes to the planet. Republicans scoffed and have fought virtually any measures to prevent the continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions responsible for warming the atmosphere. Yesterday, as fires ravage California for another year, the U.N’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a dire report that says we will see extreme events related to warming that is unequivocally caused by humans.

Republicans, for their part, will almost certainly downplay or dismiss the report, foolishly claiming the cure is more harmful than the disease. They have continually fought the transition to a clean energy economy and insisted on promoting carbon-based fuel sources. They will insist that the connection to wild fires, droughts, and increasingly powerful hurricanes is overblown. 

We’ve seen this same response to other environmental and health threats. Conservatives insist that we prove the harmful effects of activity instead of proving the safety of them. They’ve resisted banning or restricting pesticides and chemicals that cause cancer unless the connection is indisputable. Their calculations almost always take into account the financial impact to the industry to be regulated without considering the human costs such as medical bills, loss of wages, and funerals. 

We’ve spent too many years ignoring preventative measures to protect our environment and our health. With the world getting smaller, diseases will spread more quickly. The actions of one country or one industry can have an impact far beyond property lines or national borders. It’s time we shift our perspective to consider the impact of our actions on other people before we actually act. As a nation, if we are truly the leader of the world, we need to set the example, not wait for the consequences.