Climate change: Frog lesson must be heeded

If a frog jumps into a pot of hot water it hops right out again, recognizing the danger. If, however, a frog leaps into a pot of cool water it is lulled into complacency by gradual warming, failing to recognize the danger until too late.

We are worse off than the frog, because we have no way to leap out. There is no second Earth.

While we focus on the latest celebrity spat, and allow ourselves to be distracted by seeds of doubt sown by fossil fuel companies, May 2018 was the warmest ever recorded.

We know what is causing climate change – and how to stop the warming before it is too late. Two of the most significant steps we in Washington can take right now:

(1) Support initiative 1631 to get it on the ballot this November so we can be the first state to put a price on greenhouse gas polluters.

(2) Let Puget Sound Energy — the single largest greenhouse gas polluter in Washington — know the only acceptable path forward is 100 percent clean and renewable energy.

Let’s stop being lulled into complacency.

This story was originally published June 21, 2018 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Climate change: Frog lesson must be heeded."