WHAT ABOUT THE CLIMATE!

by Ruth A. Sheets

We really need climate leaders.  We actually are all in this together and will all go down together if we don't stand up NOW!  What are we waiting for?  Well, we need leaders who can provide coordinated direction.  Change may be scary, but in this case, it is happening whether we want or believe it or not.  It is essential that we behave as though it is happening.

The Trump administration's replacement for the Obama-era Clean Power Plan is appalling and should have been immediately rejected by Congress.  Ha! Lessening regulations on clean air, water, power plant emissions, etc. is really near-sighted and stupid!  There is no other way to describe it, but Mr. Trump does not care.  He is trying to appease fossil fuel corporations, who by the way also know their industries are largely responsible for global warming. 

With all the research telling us we need to act immediately to avert climate catastrophe, we're counting on states to lead the way.  The Federal Government is pretty much absent as Mr. Trump and Mr. McConnel pretend they are still living in the 1950s.  

We need ALL the states in this.  Even though we have a lot of backward thinking legislators all over the country, we need our governors  and other state officials to step up and constantly stand for a green future.  They must motivate the less informed to want to participate with those of us already working on this crisis. 

Below are some recommendations every state and governor can work for, with dedication and effort. 

1. Set a strong statewide emission reduction goal.  That can take many forms from gas emission standards to getting more vehicles off the roads.

2. Set strong clean energy use and energy reduction goals that people can implement.  This can include encouraging people to raise their thermostats to 79 or 80 degrees on hot days and to 70 on cold days.  Making sure people have low energy light bulbs, turning off lights not being used, reusing materials when possible, setting energy reduction goals for one’s household, etc. can make a difference.

3. Set goals for electric vehicles.  Provide financial incentives for buying electric vehicles and be sure that there are sufficient recharging stations either at people’s homes or in public spaces.   

4. Set a waste reduction goal.  Encourage households to use less disposable material.  Use more reusable products like straws, shopping bags, storage containers, etc.

5. Direct state agencies to support and deploy clean energy, renewable resources.  Leaders need to make it clear that this is a public good and that supporting wind farms, the solar industry, and sustainable agriculture are priorities.

6. Develop an industry that effectively handles waste and recycling.  Build or repurpose plants for sorting materials and using the products to make other things we need.  We sent stuff to China for a long time, the time when we should have been processing our own trash and recycling.

7. Set strong energy building codes.  No home should have a new roof without solar panels and the structure to use the electricity generated from those panels.  Subsidies should be available to help with this.

8. Shift transportation spending and policies to support low-carbon modes.  Support public transportation in a more substantial way, making public transportation more comfortable, easily accessible, and user friendly so more people will choose it.  Tax breaks might be employed to help low-income people choose public transit.

9. Limit new fossil-fuel infrastructure.  It is critical that we move those resources to renewable energy sources.

10. Collaborate on regional and national climate initiatives, whatever is possible to ease our carbon footprints.

11. Research and support should be made available for enhancing sustainable agriculture including verticle farms, hydroponics, genetic research, and more.

12. Traffic patterns including traffic lights should be studied to see how they can be better synched to ease rush hour stress and to help cars to be more efficient getting from place to place.

13. Research money should be put into turning roads, parking lots, and other public spaces  into solar farms so all that heat could be transformed into usable energy.  In addition research on buildings could help develop glass that can allow heat from the sun into buildings on cold days and not on hot days.

14. Efforts should be made to plant more trees and create more green spaces.  This can have a cooling effect, particularly on cities.  

15. More funds should be available for turning abandoned properties either into green spaces or affordable housing.  This could also include schools, warehouses, and other buildings no longer used for the purpose they were intended.  

In short, there is a lot we could be doing.  Of course a lot of it requires money, but so does cleaning up after hurricanes, tornados, floods.  Power outages cost money as does caring for people ill from the effects of heat.  Global warming is speeding up, so we need to act NOW. 

We need our leaders to speak about these issues ALL THE TIME, not just when it is convenient for a speech somewhere or at the ribbon cutting for a new plant.  We are RUNNING OUT OF TIME!  It really is a crisis.