Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Matt Armstrong - 7-18-2018 - Climate science isn’t partisan

Climate science isn’t partisan

 July 18, 2018

Steve Scalise, a Congressman from Louisiana, has once again introduced a House resolution decrying the alleged evils of pricing carbon pollution. Economists, of both the left and the right wing varieties, endorse such carbon pricing as a way of reigning in greenhouse gases. Scientists who have studied the matter agree that it would work, and should be done.
Large businesses see regulation as inevitable and have favored carbon pricing as a way to introduce reductions without shocking the economy. However, Scalise has decided to defy the economists, business leaders and scientists in an effort to turn a basic fact of science – that gases such as carbon dioxide and methane trap heat and are rising too quickly for the world to adapt – into a partisan matter that he can grandstand on, harming the long-term health of our economy in the process. This is bad policy, bad politics, and all citizens of the U.S. should contact their representatives in Congress and ask them to stand against this sort of nonsense.

Matt Armstrong, Fresno

 https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article215040305.html

Read more here: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article215040305.html#storylink=cpy

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Latia Taylor - 7-17-2018 - Fire ‘year’ cause for concern

Fire ‘year’ cause for concern

July 17, 2018

The west is in the throes of an intense fire season. I work among fire folk, and the consensus is there – it’s early for this. At this time of year, we’re still saying, “Later in the season, when the fuels dry out.” There’s good reason for concern about what’s next.
However, superlatives have become the new normal in fire. The term “fire year” is replacing “fire season,” as we expect to fight fire through December these days. The old-timers will tell you that wildfire has absolutely become a different animal in the 21st century. This year is normal in its abnormality.
Not all fire is destructive; some is ecologically essential. However, the reality is that we can’t stop some of these fires from doing serious damage – we must wait for a winter that has itself become unreliable. Meanwhile, sometimes firefighters die out there. My heart breaks for Braden Varney’s wife and kids in Mariposa.
Until we make meaningful progress in the fight against climate change, such as passing carbon pricing legislation, we can expect these frightening trends to continue. Californians are united by our vulnerability to fire. We must face climate change shoulder to shoulder as well.

Latia Taylor, Fresno
 https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article214990110.html

Read more here: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article214990110.html#storylink=cpy

Monday, July 16, 2018

Bruce Ratcliffe - 7-13-2018 - Pass Carbon Dividend Legislation


Pass Carbon Dividend Legislation

July 13, 2018

Americans this year celebrated our independence by buying 94 percent of all our fireworks ($900 million) from China, further deepening our trade deficit to a country which, as the recent trade war shows, holds ever more disturbing economic power over us. But there are other ironies that swirl around July 4, 1776.
Did you know that many colonies (especially in the South) were in favor of independence because Britain had begun the process of outlawing slavery? If we stayed aBritish colony, our “peculiar institution” would be threatened. A more up-to-date irony: CBS news reported the morning of July 4 that “75 million Americans [in half of the original 13 colonies] will be in the grip of an extreme heat wave today [soaring into triple digits, factoring in the humidity]”. People are advised to stay indoors and miss the fireworks?
As global warming makes ever more severe cuts into Americans’ freedom to do as we choose, one hopes lawmakers will soon pass carbon dividend legislation, such asthat proposed by Citizens Climate Lobby, so that The Fourth might again be a cause for celebration, not a reminder of what we didn’t do when we had the chance.
– Bruce Ratcliffe, Fresno

Patricia Reeves - 7-5-2018 - Climate change the real deal

Climate change the real deal

July 5, 2018

President Donald Trump has announced that the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris climate change accords – an international agreement to curb greenhouse gas emission. This decision must be challenged. If the evidence on climate change followed one line of inquiry, I too might be skeptical. There is, however, a convergence of evidence following many lines of inquiry – corals, polar ice caps, carbon dioxide increases, tree rings, increased rate of temperature and more.
Bipartisan conversations are a crucial step toward any significant climate legislation. I’m happy to point out that the Climate Solutions Caucus in Congress is made up of 41 Democrats and 41 Republicans who are exploring this most important issue. Please call your member of Congress and ask him to consider joining this caucus. We can’t afford to ignore the evidence.

Patricia Reeves, Fresno
 https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article214283574.html

Samantha Perez - 6-29-2018 - Op Ed - Fresno City student learns valuable lesson: She makes a difference on climate change



Fresno City student learns valuable lesson: She makes a difference on climate change

June 29, 2018 12:10 PM
Updated June 29, 2018 01:22 PM

Read more here: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article214080074.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article214080074.html#storylink=cpy
https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article214080074.html

Andrea Farber De Zubiria - June 04, 2018 - When it comes to climate change, GOP and Democrat members of Congress work together

When it comes to climate change, GOP and Democrat members of Congress work together

June 04, 2018 02:30 PM

Read more here: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article212522609.html#storylink=cpy

 


Read more here: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article212522609.html#storylink=cpy