So, what’s not to like about six (seven? eight?) month winters, rampant racism, chilling effects on civil rights, an extremist legislature, living in a chemical toilet, sacrifice zone, perpetual welfare state and permanent disaster area?
Yes, tornadoes, flooding, habitat destruction, drought, wildfire potential and now another eight month winter will soon descend on the red moocher state. According to WalletHub, South Dakota is tied for first place with three other horrible red states where the loss amounts from climate disasters caused a billion+ dollars in damage per capita since 1980. North Dakota has had 45 billion-dollar climate disasters since 1980 and my home state has suffered 38.
Candidate Dennis Daugaard drew gasps from a State Fair audience in 2010 when he said: “I am skeptical about the science that suggests global warming is man-caused or can be corrected by man-made efforts" but got on the phone anyway in 2013 and groveled before President Obama for several disaster declarations. Disaster declaration results from the Christmas 2016 storms that hit much of South Dakota enriched Black Hills Energy, Butte Electric, Grand Electric and others...again.
South Dakota's current Republican governor isn’t about self-reliance because she’s wedded to moral hazard. Recall US Representative Kristi Noem voted against federal disaster assistance when acts of god ravaged blue states. A tornado hit her home town of Castlewood and Noem praised her god for sparing her campaign war chest because science karma chickens come home to roost where the governor is a climate change denier. In 2019 she was quick to ask the Trump Organization for disaster cash but when she asks a Democratic president for help, especially after blaming him for an infant formula shortage, she's admitting she's dependent on federal aid. And if she doesn't she risks looking like a miserable partisan.
Ice storms routinely knock out electric power on reservations sometimes resulting in lost lives even as microgrid technologies enhance tribal sovereignty and free communities from electric monopolies. So, this is how red states finance infrastructure improvements while bitching about Big Government.
GOP hypocrisy seems endless—like wiping yer ass with a hula hoop.
Learn more at WalletHub.
ip photo: a thunderstorm dwarfs Mato Paha in occupied South Dakota.
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