Trump is standing in the way of solutions

Re “Climate change hurts economy, affects all” (Nov. 27): I have grandkids. I pray this country steps up and joins the rest of the world in fighting climate change.

We are seeing marked impacts now. My grandkids will see major change. Their grandkids may see the end of civilization as we know it.

Borders will have no meaning because of climate refugees. Central America will be the origin of many such refugees. Trump is committing high crimes by ignoring this threat to us and all others. He harps on the dangers of so many things clearly not a danger to anyone. He boasts of making America great again.


He may go down as the most destructive president ever.

Frank Hafner

San Diego


Nuclear is the solution we just keep ignoring

Re “Climate report offers dire warning” (Nov. 24) and several letters to the Union-Tribune regarding that report: These all miss one crucial recognition of fact. The world needs much more energy from nuclear power.

The just-published article in Forbes magazine, “New government report on climate change — will it matter?” (Dec. 3), points this out rather harshly. It should be noted that prominent authorities in the concern over global warming, including Dr. James Hansen, have expressed this view.

The current state of nuclear power in the United States seems to indicate that we still fail to recognize the benefit — even though nuclear generation of electricity still reduces U.S. carbon emissions more than any other source of energy.


Dale Pfremmer

Encinitas

Re “It’s time to consider a federal carbon tax” (Nov. 28): Thank you for printing this editorial. In the past year in California, we’ve seen firsthand — in the form of deadly wildfires — both the personal and financial impact climate change has on Americans.

As anomalous and extreme weather events are occurring and intensifying across the country, it has become increasingly clear that reducing carbon emissions must be addressed at the federal level. The legislation that was recently introduced in the House is an encouraging step towards reducing the impacts of climate change, and its bipartisan support reflects the increasing recognition that climate change affects all Americans.


I would like to see our representatives voice their support of this bill, regardless of party affiliation, and hope complementary legislation appears in the Senate in the coming months. Implementing a carbon fee at the federal level will move us towards a sustainable, livable and hopeful future.

Madeleine Hamann

Ocean Beach

Your editorial should be read by everyone. We’ve been waiting a long time for climate leaders to emerge in Congress. Now we know their names: Reps. Ted Deutch, D-Florida, and Francis Rooney, R-Florida. This bipartisan bill will reduce America’s emissions by at least 40 percent within 12 years. It will save lives, create clean energy jobs and all fees collected will be allocated to Americans to spend any way they choose. The government will not keep any fees collected.


Now it’s up to us to make sure this bill becomes law.

Laura Schumacher

Bay Park

Re “Humans will survive this era’s big scare” (Nov. 30): The letter writer asks an important question, “How is Earth’s average temperature measured?” It is measured with tens of thousands of thermometers, on land and sea. Four independent groups worldwide process the data, creating an incentive to identify each others’ errors, and the four results are essentially the same.


What is the relevance of the average Earth temperature? Observed changes in this quantity give a succinct measure of the overall health of the climate system, in a similar way that the unemployment rate gives a snapshot of the health of the economy.

The direct impacts of climate change that people care about (such as droughts, wildfires, floods, hurricane damages and tropical disease) have been shown to increase in severity with the average Earth temperature.

Therefore we can use average Earth temperature as a quick and useful “dashboard indicator” of the overall risk to society that is being incurred by fossil fuel burning.

Jeffrey Severinghaus


Professor of geosciences

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Our over-reliance on fossil fuels has caused damage to our climate, ranging from destructive hurricanes to devastating wildfires. However, there’s a simple action Congress could take that would dramatically reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

The Greener Fuels Act would replace corn ethanol in our fuel supply with more sustainable biofuels. Surprisingly, corn ethanol use and production generates an abundance of greenhouse gasses due to the conversion of wild habitat to farmland and from the release of corn ethanol byproducts in car exhaust. Growing corn for this purpose also decreases pollinator habitat, increases water pollution through fertilizer and pesticide use, increases the price of corn for consumption, and damages engines in boats, off-road vehicles and outdoor equipment.


Contact your representative today to urge Congress to protect our climate and economy by passing the Greener Fuels Act and investing in more sustainable biofuels.

Leana Goetze

Sacramento

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below.

Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.