Dear Senators Lee and Romney,
I was my daughter’s age — 12 — when I found out about global warming while reading a magazine in my room in 1991. This was not long after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate almost issued its first report, which said that global average temperatures had already increased by .5°F and, if we continued to release greenhouse gasses, temps would go up by 1.8°F by 2025.
We’re up to about 1.9° now.
Since 1991, over half of industrial CO2 emissions *ever* have been released into the atmosphere. Business and government have failed to sufficiently regulate greenhouse gasses for 30 years, and we are suffering the consequences.
This year, based on averages obtained over those same 30 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration raised the number of average hurricanes expected every year from 12 to 14. NOAA is also set to raise what are are considered average temperatures – for virtually everywhere it’s expected to go up. Wildfire-smoke-filled skies are an expected part of summer. We are already starting to see climate refugees from vulnerable nations, and can only expect more to ask for help in coming decades, particularly if we don’t make big changes. These are just a few effects of climate change, and they are costly.
So my question is: What’s the world going to look like for my daughter in 30 more years? What about for her kids?
Humanity can still change the way we do things. We have to. Systemic change is really the only way forward, to prevent the world from being unlivable in a few short decades.
Please, please support meaningful legislation – carbon dividends, investment in clean energy, support to carbon communities, EV car stations, we need ALL of it. This should not be a partisan issue – it affects all of us, but especially our most vulnerable communities, our kids, and our grandkids.
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