Friday night is movie night here in Catrow Coronatown, and we decided to watch The Day After Tomorrow—which is, by far, my favorite disaster movie. Made in 2004, it’s supposed to be a far-fetched look at how climate change will ruin our planet. Sitting here 16 years later, though, it feels both not-far-fetched-enough and especially prescient about how Republicans in Congress speak about climate change.

However, now that the coronavirus colors the context of every discussion we have and all the media we consume, you can’t watch this movie, hear fictional politicians say things like “We can’t let the cure be worse than the disease,” and not think about This Most Unusual Time. Trump literally said “WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF.” five days ago! Of course, in The Day After Tomorrow, early warnings from scientists to take dramatic action go unheeded by the federal government and millions of people die unnecessarily.