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.
