Hot, hot, hot!
It has been a long, hot and unusual summer. Scientists have been telling us for decades that severe weather caused by climate change was coming, but it is still a shock to experience this heat. It has made me sad to see the burnt foliage on trees and plants, especially the ferns that didn’t evolve to survive multiple days of triple digit weather. It was also disturbing to learn that 60 people died in Portland during the June heatwave. Our city and state need to be better prepared for these weather events. But we also need federal policy, otherwise our individual actions are like bailing water from a bathtub with the faucet running.
While I try to lower my personal carbon footprint, I also work to get carbon pricing passed at the national level because we can’t get to net zero emissions by 2050 without it. We have a unique opportunity to get carbon pricing passed through the upcoming budget reconciliation. If you are concerned about climate change, I urge you to contact your U.S. Representative to ask them to include carbon pricing, cclusa.org/house. Last month Citizens’ Climate Lobby volunteers inspired over 20,0000 people to contact their senators. We’d like to hit the same numbers for contacting U.S. Representatives. If you are inspired to do more, join Citizens Climate Lobby at https://citizensclimatelobby.org/join-citizens-climate-lobby/ and help me in advocating a price on carbon. I hope to see you at our next CCL meeting on Saturday, September 11th.
