Climate: Our best hope is to put price on pollution

Re: “Earth’s future is being written in rapidly melting Greenland ice,” (TNT, 8/21).

According to NOAA, July was the hottest month ever recorded on our Spaceship Earth. The article states that Greenland is projected to lose 440 billion tons of ice by summer’s end, enough to cover Pennsylvania a foot deep.

This while the Amazon, the “lungs of the earth” that provides 20% of our global oxygen, suffers with tens of thousands of wild fires.

The Green New Deal calls for massive regulation that would ideally curb emissions. However, presidential candidate John Delaney is calling for a market-based carbon fee which would price pollution at the source and return all dividends to the U.S. populace.

Making fossil fuels relatively more expensive would drive further development of renewable energy sources. Local Reps. Derek Kilmer and Denny Heck, in a bipartisan effort, have joined 60 other members of the U.S. House to support the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act., HR 763.

As our Gov. Jay Inslee has said: “our house is on fire!” It is past time to put a price on pollution.

This story was originally published September 10, 2019 at 3:23 PM.