Lesa Schwartz - 10-24-2021 - Vohra is right on climate change

 Vohra is right on climate change

October 24, 2021

Interim Health Officer Dr. Rais Vohra deserves kudos for having the courage and concern for his community to speak out about climate change. This is a dire situation that scientists have conclusively established is attributable to human activity.

That climate change has become a partisan issue not only makes action difficult, but undermines the work already done by so many climate activists. President Biden’s inclusion of climate action in the reconciliation package should be passed by all our members of Congress.

Our Board of Supervisors should be applauding Dr Vohra’s actions, not condemning them; they should be supporting him and others speaking out about climate change and exhorting us to take action.

Lesa Schwartz, Fresno

https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article255191232.html 

Matthew Armstrong - 10-10-2021 - Pointing out truth of climate change

 Letters to the editor of The Fresno Bee, 

Oct. 10, 2021

Pointing out truth of climate change

In your September 17 issue, Monica Vaughan’s article, “Fresno health officer says climate change is ‘global poisoning,’ calls for federal action” draws attention to the comments of Fresno County’s interim health officer Dr. Rais Vohra’s regarding climate change, health, and agriculture. I was pleased to see this included, as there is a longstanding argument that addressing climate change will “destroy the economy.”

This argument ignores the fact that ongoing health problems resulting from higher temperatures, as well as the loss of goods such as produce due to drought and unfavorable temperatures and the loss of services reliant on water and stable weather, are already damaging the economy, and will do so at a faster rate in the future.

Dr. Rais is right that the Valley is in particular danger, and continuing to stall action or dismiss risk will damage our health and destroy out economy. It is good to see a local official be willing to point to that truth.

Matthew Armstrong

https://www.fresnobee.com/article254807497.html

Ruth Afifi - 10-3-2021 - Climate change a health threat

October 3, 2021

Climate change a health threat

Recently Fresno County’s chief health officer discussed the dangers to health posed by climate change. As The Bee reported, Dr. Rais Vohra compared the challenges posed by climate change and COVID-19 and said: "Instead of one infectious agent that is now preventable with the vaccine, we will be dealing with dozens of hazards at once and many of them without easy solutions.”

Speaking at a press conference with the California Climate and Agriculture Network, Dr. Vohra expressed his hope that congressman Jim Costa will continue to support President Biden's Build Back Better Act, which will bring benefits to our area such as aid to public health departments, incentives to replace polluting farm equipment, and more renewable energy projects.

Regional programs like these will be an important part of the solution. However, it is also important to put a price on carbon, which will ensure that carbon emissions are reduced as fossil fuels are replaced by clean, renewable sources of energy. People can learn more about carbon pricing at this website: cclusa.org/white-house.

They can also easily send a message asking President Biden and their representative to support carbon pricing in the congressional budget reconciliation package now under consideration. 

Ruth Afifi

https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article254666767.html 

Connie Young - 9-5-2021 - Contact your Electeds on Climate

 

CONTACT YOUR ELECTEDS ON CLIMATE

    September 5, 2021

Recent climate news has been depressing: catastrophic fires in California, Turkey, Greece and Siberia; devastating floods in Germany and China; the just-released report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which says that this is the new normal if we don't drastically reduce our emissions. Am I the only one who feels overwhelmed?

Joan Baez once said that action is the antidote to despair. One quick and simple action we can all take is to contact Reps. Costa, McCarthy, McClintock or Nunes to urge them to do something big for climate, and support a price on carbon.

Many scientists and economists agree that putting a price on carbon would be the most effective way to reduce carbon emissions at the scale and speed required by the climate crisis.

Learn more and contact your representative at cclusa.org/house.

Connie Young, Fresno

https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article253933828.html

Garrett Kinman - 9-5-2021- No Time to Delay on Climate Change

 

NO TIME TO DELAY ON CLIMATE CHANGE

September 5, 2021

Recently we saw the release of the IPCC's latest report on the climate crisis, and what we saw should alarm all Valley residents. We are seeing impacts worse and decades sooner than scientists originally predicted. Historic wildfires and heat domes are now a yearly occurrence. Only weeks ago, while in Boston, I saw and breathed the smoke and haze from over 2,000 miles away. As I write this letter, the Dixie Fire is raging on in our beloved Sierra Nevada. But it does not have to be this way.

In the IPCC report, it also predicted we have one glimmer of hope: strong, immediate climate action. Renewable energy at a scale never before seen. A price on carbon. Decarbonization of the whole economy. Yes, it is asking a lot, and no, it will not be easy. But we as a country have handled crises like this before. And we can do it again if we tell our representatives our future matters to us.

If we do, we will have the honor of leaving a clean and bountiful world for our children to inherit.

But first we must act. We can delay no further.

Garrett Kinman

Fresno

ttps://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article253933828.html

Rey Leon - 8-22-2021 - Need to improve electrical systems

 

Need to improve electrical systems

Fresno Bee

August 22, 2021

Folks across the San Joaquin Valley know the hardship of blackouts all too well. As I think back on the fires and blackouts of the past year, it’s clear to me that not only do we need to invest in clean energy, but we also need to improve the infrastructure that delivers our electricity.

As extreme weather events become more common due to climate change; reliable electricity infrastructure is more important than ever. Unreliable infrastructure hurts our communities, our economy, and the most vulnerable among us. Blackouts disproportionately impact our state’s low-income families, for whom something like losing a fridge full of groceries may be felt for months after.

Clean energy adoption is also especially impactful on marginalized communities. California’s clean energy sector generates enough electricity to power 6.9 million homes, avoiding over 15 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year. This has huge implications for all of us, but especially for poor communities of color in the San Joaquin Valley who often face higher exposure to air pollution.

California has done an excellent job of establishing visionary climate goals, but we still have more work to do to shore up our energy infrastructure.

– Rey Leon,

Huron mayor

https://eedition.fresnobee.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=034b9756-bd4b-443f-b234-def90941d6f6 

Andrea Farber De Zubiria - 8-18-2021 - Carbon Fees? You Might Be Surprised by Latest List of Supporters

 Carbon Fees? You Might Be Surprised by Latest List of Supporters

August 18, 2021

GV Wire

Here’s a climate quiz question: What do these influential people and organizations have in common?  Elon Musk, the National Ski Association, the League of Women Voters, Fetzer Winery, Trout Unlimited, the Carnegie Institute of Science, the World Bank, all four living former Federal Reserve chairs including Janet Yellin, the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce,  the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO and at least 3,500 economists including 28 Nobel laureates?

Answer: They all support putting a price on carbon emissions to help solve the climate change crisis.

Putting a Price on Carbon

The reason they all support putting a price on carbon is simple: If we have a national price on carbon, companies that produce or sell coal, oil or gas will be assessed a gradually rising fee for every ton of carbon pollution their product will emit. This fee will incentivize them to transition to renewable non polluting practices and products.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors, a network of 1,407 mayors from cities with populations over 300,000 passed a resolution about this. The resolution “strongly urges the United States Congress to pass legislation that imposes a price on carbon emissions sufficient enough to reduce carbon emissions in line with ambitions detailed in the Paris Agreement.” The resolution cites our changing climate’s “challenges to human health and safety, quality of life, and the rate of economic growth.”

I feel heartsick every time I hear about extreme fires, storms, floods and the horrific damage they are wreaking on people’s lives. We all know that particles in the smoke that wafts into our Valley are damaging to our health.

Majority of Americans Want Action

Many of the same emissions that cause climate change also lead to air quality problems. The vast majority of Americans want action on climate and air pollution. But many of our leaders are too afraid to support bold legislation to help us transition away from these fuels that are heating up the earth and trashing the air we breathe.

The good news is that even without federal legislation, the US is gradually increasing its use of solar, wind, biofuels and geothermal energy. According to the US Energy Information Administration, 12% of our energy consumption was provided by renewables in 2020.

Carbon Pricing Will Spur Innovation

It is exciting and hopeful that we are increasing our use of clean energy. History shows that the more we use certain technologies, the more they improve. But experts say this isn’t happening fast enough to meet the urgent goal of lowering greenhouse gases 50% by 2030 to stabilize our climate. A huge number of economists, scientists and public policy experts say that we need carbon pricing to motivate more innovation and efficiency.

Canada has already passed this legislation. The European Union will soon start assessing a fee on products we export to them if a carbon fee is not already part of our economy. This could put American businesses at a disadvantage if our products wind up costing too much. Carbon pricing can take effect much faster than any regulations to lower emissions with minimal bureaucracy and no cost to taxpayers.

What Can ‘Ordinary People’ Do? 

Between August 11 and  August 31 we have our best opportunity ever to get carbon pricing at the federal level through the process called “budget reconciliation”.

If enough concerned citizens contact their representatives in the next few weeks, we could have a carbon price by fall and start to see carbon emissions drastically drop in a matter of months.

It takes five minutes to let your member of Congress know you want carbon pricing by contacting them using cclusa.org/house. The link will get you addresses, phone numbers and sample scripts and does not obligate you to any future actions, memberships, emails or donation requests.

Calls to Congress Needed

Last week over 20,000 people contacted their senators to ask for a price on carbon. Now Citizens’ Climate Lobby estimates we need at least 10,000 people to call and email their representative in the House to get their attention, as well. We need to do this before they look at the budget reconciliation package that the Senate will be passing on to them in a few weeks.

Whether your member of Congress is Jim Costa, David Valadao, Devin Nunes or Kevin McCarthy, reach out to them by the end of August to let them know you have had it with lack of action on climate change and want a price on carbon emissions now.

You can find more influencers and organizations that support a price on carbon here.

Andrea Farber De Zubiria is the co-leader of the Fresno Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.  Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a non-partisan non-profit organization that empowers ordinary people to influence Congress to address climate change with effective federal legislation. She can be reached at fresno@citizensclimatelobby.org

https://gvwire.com/2021/08/18/carbon-fees-you-might-be-surprised-by-latest-list-of-supporters/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Valley+Air+District+to+End+Ag+Burns&utm_campaign=FTF+08%2F23%2F2021

Devin Carroll - 8-15-2021 Put Carbon Price on Natural Gas

Put Carbon Price on Natural Gas

Fresno Bee August 15, 2021

 My Congressman, Devin Nunes, recently introduced HR 4394, the Clean Energy Protection Act, mandating continued operation of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. 

All 10 California Republican Representatives are cosponsors.

I agree closing Diablo Canyon is a mistake; probably leading to more use of natural gas plants. Keeping it would allow new solar and wind power to replace fossil fuels. Nuclear actually works well in tandem with intermittent renewable sources. 

I respect my fellow environmentalists who are leery of nuclear power, but many are changing their minds. The Union of Concerned Scientists is just one organization giving qualified support of nuclear energy as better than coal or gas power plants. 

But no bill is helpful unless it passes. Demanding Diablo Canyon stay open, “notwithstanding” California laws, will attract no Democratic votes. Other Republican initiatives, such as streamlining regulations, and developing safer nuclear designs, could be bipartisan. 

The best policy to help nuclear power is a price on carbon. It was PG&E that requested shutdown for economic reasons, largely cheap natural gas. But gas is “subsidized” unless it pays a price for damage to our climate from CO2 and methane. A carbon price establishes market-based competition to eliminate these greenhouse gases.

Devin Carroll

https://eedition.fresnobee.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=8f3402b3-cffb-4137-bd00-490b260cecc7

Ken Wall - 7-13-2021 - Fresno writer outlines plan to reverse climate change and halt its bad impacts

 Fresno writer outlines plan to reverse climate change and halt its bad impacts

BY KEN WALL

JULY 13, 2021 11:34 AM

The vast majority of Americans, no matter their party affiliation, are worried about climate change. We want our government to take action to cut greenhouse gas emissions without damaging our livelihoods, our access to goods and services, and our ability to get from point A to point B.

How can we do this quickly enough to hit the net zero emissions goal for 2050? It is clear to me that national legislation is the key to effectively tackling climate change in time to avoid the worst consequences of the changing climate.

As a former bank regulator, I know how difficult it is to establish regulations that “get it right.” This is one reason that I agree with most economists who have concluded that a market-based approach, rather than a regulatory approach, is the most effective way to transition the economy away from fossil fuels to clean energy. And of the market-based options that have been proposed, I am convinced that what we need is a form of carbon pricing called Carbon Fee and Dividend.

Carbon Fee and Dividend, as envisioned in The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR 2307), would be more effective overall in addressing our reliance on fossil fuels. It would be far simpler and cheaper to implement than regulatory approaches, and it would be more fair to all U.S. residents. By setting a gradually rising fee on each ton of CO2 produced, companies will have a powerful incentive to innovate ways to emit less carbon.

While any carbon pricing system would increase energy costs for U.S. residents, it is the “dividend” part of the measure that would ensure that lower-income residents especially do not suffer financially as a result. Projections show that the dividend amounts would more than cover the higher energy costs of almost all lower-income residents.

Ken Wall

https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article252757623.html 

Andrea Farber De Zubiria - 7-25-2021 - Dyer takes key climate step

 Dyer takes key climate step
July 25, 2021

  Wow. Is it OK to start a letter that way? I hope so because I am personally “wowed’ to discover that Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer has joined the Climate Mayors Network. This is a bipartisan network of 470 mayors from 48 states who are committing to meaningful action to address climate change in their communities. 

By joining this network, our mayor shows he understands we have a great opportunity right now to improve our prospects for quality of life by focusing on sustainable and equitable economic growth and recovery. The Climate Mayors want to reduce greenhouse gases to clean up our air and stabilize our climate. They encourage investing in industry that brings clean, well-paying jobs, access to clean water and clean energy. 

I am hopeful that we will eventually get some carbon pricing legislation passed at the federal level to support the goals of the Paris Agreement. But while we wait for Congress to battle it out, I truly appreciate that Mayor Dyer has joined this group of pro-active mayors trying to make tangible improvements to our health and well-being. 

Andrea Farber De Zubiria, Fresno

https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article252966413.html

 

Bruce Ratcliffe - 7-25-2021- We are beyond climate warning

 We are beyond climate warning

July 25, 2021

Breaking news: Heat in Pacific Northwest is “historic, dangerous, prolonged and unprecedented.” Western drought upgraded from “extreme” to “exceptional;” worst in 1,200 years. And yet, millions of Americans still doubt global warming. Why?

There are two reasons the danger of global warming has been so difficult for so many to heed. Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe highlighted the first. In the dead of winter he brought a snowball into the Senate chambers and had a good laugh about global warming. Yes, Jim, cold days still happen. But they’re getting harder to find. Since 1894, nine of the 10 hottest years in Fresno occurred in the last decade.

The second is highlighted by predictions of what a 4 degree Fahrenheit-hotter world would be like: grim. It’s hard to imagine how intolerable. Portlanders no longer need to imagine. This summer, global warming is serving up a preview of that world. The weather for the entire Pacific Northwest has been as much as 40 degrees hotter than “normal.”

It is time for Congress to pass a carbon tax (the Energy Innovation Act, HR2307), to begin addressing the approaching disaster. No longer can we say we haven’t been warmed.

Bruce Ratcliffe, Fresno 

https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article252966413.html  

Matthew Armstrong - 6-27-2021 - U.S. Military and Climate Change

 

https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article252349163.html 

Letters to the editor, June 27, 2021

U.S. military and climate change

Climate change is routinely treated as, at best, a “liberal” issue, and at worst derided as a hoax by many lawmakers and a not-small percentage of the public.

Ironically, those same people tend to speak highly of the military. The U.S. Department of Defense, as well as similar military organizations in other nations, have long pointed to the dangers posed by climate change. As the most recent example, the International Military Council on Climate and Security (a group composed of military officers, including a number of U.S. officers, and civilian experts, and led by current and former military officials), recently released a report identifying a number of ways in which climate change poses a threat to military readiness and response. That ranges from increased conflict over less water supplies to the effects of flooding on coastal military facilities.

If politicians and media are being honest about their positive views of the military, then they will pay attention to this — armies and navies are not bastions of “liberal propaganda” and don’t tend to fall for hoaxes very easily. If they are taking this seriously, then we are well past time for lawmakers to do so.

Matt Armstrong

Fresno

Nayamin Martinez - 6-18-2021 - Far from being a good energy source, biomass threatens Central Valley health, climate.

 

This article appeared on the opinion page of the Fresno BEE on June 18.

https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article252183428.html

Far from being a good energy source, biomass threatens Central Valley health, climate
by Nayamin Martinez, executive director of the Central California Environmental Justice Network

Communities in the Central Valley breathed easier when the biomass power plant in Mendota
was shut down in 2016, after years of being one of the biggest air polluters in the region.

It was a particular relief for residents of the mobile home park a quarter mile away, who’d
been breathing the plant’s dangerous fine particles for years.

This matters because fine particulate matter penetrates deep into the lungs, entering the
bloodstream. These tiny particles are linked to serious health problems including heart
disease, premature death, stroke and aggravated asthma.

But our community health is still in danger, with Assemblymember Rudy Salas acting on
behalf of the industry by promoting dirty biomass energy for the Valley and our state.

The truth is that biomass is a false solution that harms our health and our climate.

Contrary to industry claims, biomass power plants are major emitters of air pollutants,
especially fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, and are guilty of repeated air quality
violations.

Before it was closed, the Mendota biomass plant was the largest stationary source of fine
particulate pollution in Kings, Fresno and Madera counties combined. The Rio
Bravo biomass plant in Fresno is the second-largest point source of fine particulate pollution
in Fresno County.

Particulate pollution causes an estimated 1,200 premature deaths in the Valley every year.

In the San Joaquin Valley, four out of five active biomass plants are in disadvantaged
communities with some of the highest air pollution in the state. The Rio Bravo biomass plant
in Fresno is located less than a half-mile from Malaga Elementary School, Malaga
Community Park and surrounding homes. It sits in a majority Hispanic neighborhood with the
state’s highest pollution score.

Like fossil fuels, biomass is a carbon-burning energy source that spews climate-heating
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In fact, biomass power is more carbon polluting at the
smokestack than coal.

Biomass accelerates the climate crisis at the exact time when we must rapidly cut carbon
pollution to avoid devastating climate impacts like the drought that we’re in now.

It’s also not needed for stabilizing the electrical grid. Biomass power currently supplies less
than 3% of the state’s total electric power. Instead, grid stabilization can be achieved with
truly clean and renewable solar and wind power, paired with energy storage.

Salas’s claim that biomass is affordable is another inaccuracy. Biomass is California’s most
expensive electricity source, averaging more than three times the cost of solar or wind power.

This expensive and dirty business is propped up by subsidies paid for by taxpayers and utility
customers, diverting investment away from genuine clean energy sources.

Salas claims that forests are not being chopped down and turned into power, but reports and
photo evidence of whole trees trucked in and piled up at biomass facilities show that Salas is
simply wrong.

Biomass energy is often promoted as a way to incentivize large-scale tree-cutting — using
misleading labels like “thinning” under the claim that this will protect communities during
wildfires.

In reality forest cutting doesn’t stop fire and can actually cause fires to burn hotter and faster.
Indeed, under a logging and thinning approach, California’s communities have suffered
unprecedented wildfire deaths and home destruction.

Instead, research and experience show that the most effective way to protect homes and
communities in fire-prone areas is through home-hardening retrofits to make homes
themselves more fire-safe and reducing vegetation in the 100 feet of defensible space
immediately surrounding homes.

The bottom line is that burning wood for electricity is an outdated, dirty energy source that
harms vulnerable communities, worsens the climate crisis, and diverts resources away from
genuine climate solutions such as solar and wind.

We encourage lawmakers like Assemblymember Salas to get the facts and work towards a
clean energy future for the Central Valley. Biomass is not it.

-----------------------

 

Singleton Thibodeaux-Yost - 4-22-2021 - Fresno planetary scientist draws lessons on climate change from space exploration

 Fresno planetary scientist draws lessons on climate change from space exploration

 April 22, 2021

By Singleton Thibodeaux-Yost

It’s Feb. 18 and my co-workers and I anxiously watch as the Mars 2020 Rover, Perseverance, approaches the Martian atmosphere. Our mission is to capture an image of the 70-foot-wide supersonic parachute that will slow the rover during descent onto Mars. Millions of people around the globe are watching via live stream as we operate the high-resolution camera, HiRISE, aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Traveling at 6,750 mph, the extreme distance and high speeds of the two spacecraft created challenging conditions that required precise timing so the rover was viewable by HiRISE at just the right moment. This interplanetary action-shot required arduous amounts of collaboration, calculations, and specialized software, but the result is awe-inspiring.

As a planetary scientist, I see space exploration as a way to understand where we come from. It allows us to learn how life began, and what it might be like in extreme environments.

We know that the Earth has gone through drastic changes over its long history. While “life” in general has survived, the type of life that survives is always that which has adapted and thrived in a changing world. The relative climatic calm on the Earth for the last 2,000 years has allowed humans to become a technologically and culturally advanced species. Unfortunately for us, that calm has ended. Severe and unprecedented weather events have overwhelmed the U.S. in the last few years: catastrophic flooding in the Midwest, large-scale fires in the West, the polar vortex causing record-breaking freezes in Texas this year.

Recent trends of severe weather are telling us that we need to prepare for a future that will be unfamiliar. This means societal and infrastructure change on many levels — economically, socially, and politically. However, humans have a great survival advantage for facing climate change. We have grown a collective base of knowledge to innovate in ways that would have seemed pure fiction a hundred years ago. From my own experience working on active spacecraft missions, I know that when a community of people come together around a common idea, we can face any challenge and succeed.

The vast majority of scientists and Americans agree that climate change is real, caused by excessive carbon emissions, and will have serious impacts on the health and livelihoods of themselves and their loved ones. While some industries are already reducing their carbon emissions, others will not move forward until there is a plan to incentivize them. Putting a gradually rising fee on emissions from coal, oil, and gas will drive down carbon pollution because energy companies and leading industries will innovate toward cleaner, cheaper options.

It is a lofty goal to cut carbon emissions to stabilize our climate, while allowing us to carry on with the benefits that abundant energy has given us. This goal may feel as unattainable as landing on the moon once did. In the 1960s, President Kennedy’s famous “Moon Speech” at Rice University in Texas about the space program inspired a nation to explore new horizons and technology. Our country has led exploration into space, and this race towards a clean energy future is our generation’s moonshot. As the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo missions and 51st anniversary of Earth Day is Thursday, I reflect on JFK’s famous words half a century ago and compare the race to the moon to the challenge of climate change:

Why should we lead innovation towards a clean energy future? Not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one we must accept, one we cannot postpone, and one in which we intend to succeed. We have our future, and the future of every living thing on this Earth at stake; this is not a race we can lose.

Singleton Thibodeaux-Yost lives in Fresno and holds a bachelor’s in art and an master’s in geology from Fresno State. She works remotely for the University of Arizona as an operations engineer for the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

 

https://eedition.fresnobee.com/ccidist-replica-reader/?epub=https://eedition.fresnobee.com/ccidist-ws/mcclatchy/mcclatchy_frs_newsbroad/issues/57744/&token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJNY0NsYXRjaHkiLCJzdWIiOiI1MDAyNzU3ODYiLCJwdWJzIjp7ImZyZXNub19mcnNfbmV3c2Jyb2FkIjpbIkFMTEZSUy01MDMyIiwiZWVkaXRpb24iXX0sInNlc3Npb24iOjE1ODQ2MzUyMDEsImlhdCI6MTU4MjA0NjgwMSwiZXhwIjoxNTgyMDQ3NzAxfQ.rticelHUca08OxN9y4vCIXxl1zyyX_Da3u_5vgSbg4g#/articles/14

Kaelyn Xiong - 4-4-2021 - Our Valley at risk by climate change

 

Our Valley at risk by climate change 

April 4, 2021

 Early risers know the true beauty of the Valley. They know the feeling of the brisk morning air hitting their skin, and how brightly the sun shines as it peaks over the Sierra Nevada. This place we call home is only a small piece of the beauty that this Earth has to offer. But as climate change worsens, the beauty that we have become accustomed to is in danger.

Our daily actions, and inactions, are proving to be detrimental to our only home. Climate change is a pervasive issue caused by human activity. And it is time we mend what we have broken. But as prominent sociologist Charles Derber has suggested in “The Wilding of America,” small, personal changes are not enough to remedy climate change. So, call onto your elected officials at the local, state, and federal level. Urge them to create and support legislation that holds large corporations accountable for their carbon footprint. 

 We must continue to educate ourselves and mobilize those around us. The conversations are hard. And the work we have ahead of us is even harder. But the preservation of this Earth, for us and generations to come, will always have been well worth it.

Kaelyn Xiong, Fresno 

https://eedition.fresnobee.com/ccidist-replica-reader/?epub=https://eedition.fresnobee.com/ccidist-ws/mcclatchy/mcclatchy_frs_newsbroad/issues/56100/&token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJNY0NsYXRjaHkiLCJzdWIiOiI1MDAyNzU3ODYiLCJwdWJzIjp7ImZyZXNub19mcnNfbmV3c2Jyb2FkIjpbIkFMTEZSUy01MDMyIiwiZWVkaXRpb24iXX0sInNlc3Npb24iOjE1ODQ2MzUyMDEsImlhdCI6MTU4MjA0NjgwMSwiZXhwIjoxNTgyMDQ3NzAxfQ.rticelHUca08OxN9y4vCIXxl1zyyX_Da3u_5vgSbg4g#/articles/46

 

 

Andrea Farber De Zubiria - 2-3-2021- May 2021 be year of being bipartisan

 

https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article248935989.html

May 2021 be year of being bipartisan

February 3, 2021

I’ve had it with insults, sarcasm and screaming getting all our attention. I’m ready for civility, decency and the democratic process to get a lot more coverage.

That’s why I admire the 17 Republican members of Congress, including the Central Valley’s David Valadao, for the letter they sent to President Biden on Jan. 20. 

My favorite part was this: “Americans are tired of the partisan gridlock and simply want to see leaders from both sides of the aisle work on issues important to American families, workers, and businesses ... We firmly believe that what unites us as Americans is far greater than anything that may ever divide us. In that spirit, we hope that we can rise above the partisan fray to negotiate meaningful change for Americans across the nation.”.

I respect this reach across the aisle and hope we see a lot more of this from both parties. We need our leaders to move us toward lasting solutions to the pandemic, racial injustice, poverty, gun violence and climate change. I hope the most used word of 2021 will be “bipartisan.”

Andrea Farber De Zubiria, Fresno

Jenifer Schwartz Casey - 12-18-2020 - Valley Voices - One minute, Fresno woman readies for Sierra camping trip. Then Creek Fire ruins her plans

 

One minute, Fresno woman readies for Sierra camping trip. Then Creek Fire ruins her plans

By Jenifer Schwartz Casey

December 18, 2020

As we descended the last few miles of Kaiser Pass Road toward Huntington Lake, it looked like we were driving into an apocalypse. Fire had turned the sky above and between the oaks and pines a deep orange, and it was growing dark at noon. The Creek Fire had jumped the road and now Highway 168, the only way out of the mountains, was blocked. Car by car, sheriffs directed 75 campers, several journalists, and our dogs to a paved area behind China Peak ski resort. There was no cell service, but the sheriffs had radio communication with Cal Fire. They informed us our only way out was by helicopter — in an hour, or maybe 12. No one knew because there was zero visibility. So, we scrambled to organize necessary belongings into one backpack, as instructed, and to be ready at any moment.

My exchange student, Christian, and I had been looking forward to this camping trip. It was our last weekend to visit one of my favorite places in the high Sierra before the roads closed for winter. I’ve hiked and camped around the Ansel Adams Wilderness and Edison Lake for more than 25 years, usually staying near Mono Creek, a gorgeous, crashing trout stream. Coming into these mountains along rugged, windy roads always feels like coming home. I find serenity amongst oaks and cottonwood trees, willows and dogwoods, then hike higher into conifers, ponderosas, sugar pines, incense cedars and aspens.

But I’d seen the changes. The most extreme drought event in hundreds of years caused a huge die-off of the Sierra Nevada’s mature trees in 2015-16. Over the past several years, I saw groves of mixed pine and firs, brown and dead from the bark beetle that had invaded drought-damaged trees and stumps where majestic conifers once stood.

And now this forest I loved was burning. We were trapped, with no way to even contact our families, surely worried back home. Suddenly, after hours of waiting, a sheriff was on his loudspeaker, directing us to get in our cars immediately. Cal Fire and rescue volunteers escorted us down the mountain, toward the fire, which was burning on both sides of the road at Shaver Lake. I was terrified and wanted to weep at the devastation, but I held it together and kept on driving. They led us past the lake, through the town, and several miles farther. When we reached the town of Prather, about 45 minutes from home, we stopped to let our families know we were alive and safe. That’s when I broke down and cried.

The Creek Fire is now mostly contained, but tragically, 379,895 acres of forest have burned along with almost 900 structures. This year alone, California has seen more than 4 million acres burned by wildfires. Our overcrowded forests and history of fire suppression policies are only part of the equation. Drought and record-breaking heat waves have set the stage, turning our forests into the fuel that a lightning strike or any stray spark could turn into a raging wildfire.

In 2018, retiring Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott told public radio station KQED, “Firefighters face the impact of climate change every day.” At our current trajectory, temperatures will continue to climb, bringing more fires and greater destruction. These wildfires also create a feedback loop that exacerbates climate change by releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

My experience with the Creek Fire has motivated me to learn more about how we can mitigate climate change. We must reduce the heat-trapping pollution that is warming our world. The Central Valley Asthma Collaborative, the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition, student groups as well as faith and business organizations in our area have endorsed the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR 763). This bipartisan legislation puts a price on carbon pollution, spurring innovation. Studies show it will drive down carbon emissions by 40 percent in the first 12 years and 90 percent by 2050. The dividend will give low- and middle-income households a financial boost.

This holiday season, I am grateful to the Vermillion Resort staff, firefighters, deputy sheriffs and emergency personnel who helped get us home safe and sound. I’m going to show appreciation by advocating for policies that will help keep them safer too. I’m contacting my congressman, Devin Nunes, to ask him to support HR 763; I would be thankful if you would call or email your representative as well.

Jenifer Schwartz Casey is a college English instructor at Fresno City College, specializing in critical reading, composition, and literature. She is an avid outdoor enthusiast, camping and hiking through the Sierras with her family, friends, and dogs.

Read more here: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article247907500.html?fbclid=IwAR2myYw2xGWEqhltMSidZ7ITUCnIMyLWuU5HIv8l5rC7jHIYOFyIbSAjbyA#storylink=cpy

Ruth Afifi - 1-13-2021 - Fires, smoke with climate change

 

Fires, smoke with climate change

I love to garden, and I was very frustrated in recent months having to hide in the house day after day because of the smoky air. We were warned repeatedly that the air was unhealthy for everyone, so I stayed indoors. Therefore, I was not surprised recently to read in The Bee that “The Valley has worst air quality after year of fires” (12/28) and that “asthma events” due to smoke exposure will increase with ever more wildfires caused primarily by climate change.

The article explains that rising temperatures reduce the moisture in the soil, increase evaporation, cause snow and ice to melt faster, and will shorten the rainy season. Droughts are predicted to become more severe and frequent. Dry forests and other vegetation will be fuel for wildfires, and smoke from the fires will worsen air quality, resulting in millions of dollars of medical costs.

We need to free ourselves from the fossil fuels that are causing climate change. For example, we can require electric vehicles instead of gas-powered cars and trucks. It will not be easy or cheap, but we have no other choice if we want to improve our air quality, reduce health care costs, and stop climate change.

Ruth Afifi, Fresno

January 13, 2021

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