Letter: Flying right past the climate commission - Chico Enterprise-Record
Letter: Flying right past the climate commission - Chico Enterprise-Record
April 4, Item 5.3 on the Chico City Council agenda: “Commission interviews for airport commission and climate action commission positions.” Now that’s an interesting juxtaposition.
While it’s entirely reasonable to take climate change seriously, it’s not reasonable to say we take it seriously and act as if we don’t. It’s worth wondering why none of the environmentalists who’ve served on the Climate Action Commission – such as Mark Stemen –have taken a public position opposing expanding services at Chico Airport. This is not a new issue, but one extending back as long as the climate commission has “been in business.”
On numerous occasions one or two of us have spoken against airport expansion, with opposition being two-fold: Firstly, the eco-math on flying out of Chico vs flying out of Sacramento is not rocket science; a shuttle bus to SMF would be, by far, the most GHG limiting approach. Secondly, we ought to be loudly discouraging CO2 spewing air travel, 90% of which is non-essential, as was illustrated in the Covid era. I’d be very surprised if Mark Stemen is unaware of these inconvenient truths.
At a council meeting in 2021 I went on record saying we ought to disband the Climate Action Commission. Our city government as presently constituted will do nothing eco-friendly beyond what is mandated by the evil socialists in Sacramento. And, air travel is but one of many difficult lifestyle questions commissioners have exhibited zero courage in addressing. Popularity constrained “climate action” is worse than no action at all.
— Patrick Newman, Chico
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”