By being in denial about climate change we tell ourselves it’s not a problem, we are OK. Are we? Because of the extreme heat created by the emission of carbon into the atmosphere, 17 of the 18 warmest years have been since 2001. The last three years we have had record hot years. In May of 2018 both Norway and Sweden had the hottest month in history resulting in wildfires everywhere. So did Germany and many other countries. Unprecedented brushfires are raging across Australia now. A recent article in the New Yorker magazine said the climate apocalypse is coming; there is no hope except for us. Who is “us?”
I belong to Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL). We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization focused on national policy to address climate change. CCL advocates for the bipartisan climate solution, HR 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. It will reduce carbon emissions at least 40 percent in the first 12 years. See: energyinnovationact.org.
Another group I belong to is the Catholic Climate Covenant. In the U.S. nearly 800 Catholic institutions, health care systems, universities, parishes, and schools have signed the Catholic Climate Declaration that affirms the Paris Agreement.
The Union of Concerned Scientists commissioned the Yale University on Climate Change Communications to conduct a nationwide survey and results were posted in June. Fifty-three percent surveyed said global warming is already harming their local communities. Fifty-seven percent think fossil fuel companies are responsible for a moderate to a great deal of the damage and should pay for most or all of it.
Scientist predict unless we start reducing the emissions now it may well be too late 10 years from now to reverse the trend to an acceptable level of emissions.
Call Congress today!
Kurt Hertrich
Columbia Falls