Climate change is only controversial due to disasters

Vox Pop

I am encouraged that climate change was an issue in this last election. And I appreciated US Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barrett’s statement that climate change is a controversial issue.

It’s controversial that there were 16 U.S climate disasters in US in the first 9 months of this year whose losses exceeded a billion dollars. These 16 events resulted in the deaths of 188 people and had significant economic effects on the areas impacted.

Yet many leaders (but not most of the public) don’t want to believe the science that clearly shows this increase in natural disasters are a result of climate change, so our country left the Paris Climate Accord and eliminated regulations that would have reduced carbon emissions.

It’s controversial that the U.S. continues to subsidize the fossil fuel industry directly and indirectly, but our individual ability to receive tax incentives for renewable energy infrastructure, such a solar or wind, decreased this year and will be gone after next year.

I think it’s controversial that many of our national leaders don’t seem to care that we are leaving our children and grandchildren to pay the price of climate change.

I have hope, though, that our citizens will push for action to reduce carbon emissions at all levels of government. I hope for incentives that will grow our renewable energy industry and allow us to significantly reduce fossil fuel use.

I have hope we will think about our grandchildren and make sacrifices ourselves to reduce their risks of facing a looming climate crisis.

— Pam Dryer, Mason