Save the trees
Jan 21, 2020
We’ve all heard of the beetle kill, fueled by climate
change, that has wiped out huge swaths of conifers across the Sierra Nevada,
imbuing our local national treasures with a slightly sinister feeling.
Today, I learned that 28 giant sequoias in the national
parks have fallen victim to that same beetle kill. These are the mythic
survivors, which for generations we have assumed are largely unbothered by
human folly. Whatever mess we might make, we have taken it for granted that
they will outlive us. Now, it appears likely that we were wrong. The big trees
are starting to die, not in 100 years, but right now.
What are we going to do? However complicated it might be to
ween ourselves off fossil fuels, we need to start fighting climate change,
immediately and aggressively. How can we live with ourselves if we don’t do
everything that we can?
Rep. Kevin McCarthy has stated that Republicans need to
start bringing climate solutions to the table. I hope that he will consider
cosponsoring an existing solution, H.R. 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon
Dividend Act. It puts a price on carbon sources, and unlike other bills
currently in the House, it returns all the revenue to taxpayers, as a quarterly
dividend check, which protects everyday citizens from having to shoulder more
than our fair share of the burden. This kind of solution is market-based, not
regulatory, and enjoys bipartisan support. I would love to see our congressman
join the supporters.
Rebecca Paterson, Three Rivers
Published in Bakersfield Californian
https://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/letter-to-the-editor-save-the-trees/article_d2df9b64-3be4-11ea-93b2-7b8168648ee9.html
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