As climate change impacts America more and more, we need political leadership that will address the issue. Last Friday, 17 federal agencies simultaneously released a peer-reviewed fourth National Climate Assessment Report representing the highest-quality science America can muster. It states that our climate is warming and humans are responsible. We can see the effects today, after a 1 degree C rise, in extreme droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires, which are projected to worsen.
If our world continues burning fossil fuels without changing course, temperatures could rise 5 to 8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. However, the rest of the world is proceeding with the Paris Accord, even as the U.S. pulls out and gets left behind. States, cities, and large corporations are making the effort go green even without federal backing. These efforts will slow the temperature rise, but we still need federal action to keep the rise under 3 degrees.
The Citizens’ Climate Lobby advocates a carbon fee and dividend plan that harnesses the market to reduce emissions and puts money into the pockets of the two-thirds of Americans with a smaller-than-average carbon footprint.
The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication sums up what every American should know about climate change in 11 words: “Scientists agree: It’s real; it’s us; it’s bad; but there’s hope.” I hope that the committees nominating candidates for the special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District (after the resignation of Tim Murphy) will give us candidates that can lead us to a hopeful solution.
CHRIS MULLIN
Mt. Lebanon
First Published: November 8, 2017, 5:00 a.m.