One policy could help climate crisis considerably - Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel
One policy could help climate crisis considerably
Out of Saturday’s excellent editorial I get that few see climate change as a problem to be solved. Yet it’s been a known problem for decades.
In 1988, atmospheric concentrations of CO2 topped 350 parts per million. That was considered a “safe” level of carbon dioxide by scientists, climate experts, and government officials, despite being 70 ppm above pre-industrial levels.
The U.S. Senate, warned of increasing dangers, did nothing. Even now, congressional conservatives can’t get with a “conservative climate solution based on free-market principles” advocated by three of President Reagan’s former cabinet members, and 3,600 U.S. economists.
That solution, sometimes known as “Cashback Carbon Pricing” would provide cash to you and me, funded by steadily increasing pricing of fossil fuel emissions. We, and manufacturers, would choose the cheaper energy option, with clean now cheaper.
And then, just think. Earth’s atmospheric CO2 is now up at 420 ppm. So we also need to remove “legacy greenhouse gasses” that are still up there continuing to warm our world. Label that “Climate Restoration.”
Please write or call your members of Congress to tell them.
Peter Garrett
Winslow
Send questions/comments to the editors.
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Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”