Hello, Sunshine. Hello, Rain.

As is traditional in an election year, most of the normal legislative agenda has been suspended in favor of campaigns and partisan posturing.  The GOP is largely running on the economy, which is sure to be a winning issue in many states. Afraid of seeming soft on economic issues, many Democrats have pushed another issue to the back burner: Climate Change. Not mentioned once in three debates!

Climate change is an unusual issue in that the scientific community is in near-complete agreement. Surveys of climate scientists show that 97% believe that humans are warming the planet. So why are politicians so far behind?

In this election season, Democrats seem unwilling touch the subject, and Republican candidates seem equally uninterested in rehashing the usual debates. Are they afraid of alienating moderate voters whose opinions on climate change may not align with the party platform? Or are there just too many other things on their on their plate?

As Joseph Romm states in this video (quite long but worth watching), there will come a time when the effects of climate change are obvious to the general public, when attacking scientists is no longer enough to hide our changing world. At that point, politicians and other public officials will have to admit that climate change is real and important. And they will have to do something about it.

Some new polls indicate that day may have arrived. The extreme droughts and storms of the summer have made an impression, and 68% of Americans feel that weather has gotten more extreme in their lifetime. More importantly, swing voters are highly likely to believe in global climate change.

As recently as 2004, even Republicans could take a stance in favor of climate legislation.  As a presidential candidate, John McCain endorsed the cap-and-trade approach, and Newt Gingrich famously stood with Nancy Pelosi to call for action. Where are those voices now?

Thankfully, most Republicans are not like Rep. Todd Akin. Reasonable people within the GOP ranks understand that climate change is a clear and present danger to this country (and everywhere else, for that matter).  Rising temperatures will drastically alter the future of our food production, spark global unrest, and drive ever more extreme weather to our shores. You wonder how they’ll explain to their grandchildren that climate change was for so long just “a convenient wedge issue.”

But that could change. Some people have been proposing a truly wild idea: a climate-friendly GOP. And not just a GOP that supports climate-change legislation, but also one that gets re-elected doing it.

The craziest part is that when this turn-about happens, the GOP won’t even have to admit they were ever wrong. The message will be simple: The GOP has only ever been looking out for the interests of the American people. There were doubts, but now that there is finally enough evidence to support climate change (now that the ice caps are melting and we have less than a week to build an ark) legislation may move ahead. The GOP, satisfied with the state of the science on the issue, is ready to take action.

Even if it is belated.

So what are they waiting for? The Republican base only doubts climate science because their politicians told them to, because their opinion carries tremendous weight with the faithful. Even heavyweights like John Boehner, who has admitted in more candid moments that climate change is a serious problem, pursues a public narrative villainizing climate scientists and activists alike.

In such situations, a few well-regarded voices can make a massive impact on public opinion. For example, after the president publically endorsed marriage equality, support for same sex marriage among African-Americans and Latinos jumped 18 points, and the majorities of both groups are now in favor.  While many individuals remained unswayed, this massive shift speaks to the influence that political leaders hold with their constituents.

The modern Republican Party is astonishingly adept at messaging, and I have no doubt that it can convince conservative American voters that we need to address this issue. Unfortunately, we need all the help we can get.