Attention on the climate crisis
The climate change crisis is becoming more visible, and the American media is paying some attention, but not enough. The Guardian, a venerable English newspaper, had a recent article “The American Climate Migration Has Already Begun” (Feb. 23, 2023).
Despite my avid reading of American climate change articles, I was rather amazed to read that the author, Jake Bittle, reports that more than 3 million Americans lost their homes just this past year because of climate disasters. He predicts that many of them will never be able to return. Bittle says, “Over the coming decades, the total number of displaced will swell by millions and tens of millions, forcing Americans from the most vulnerable parts of the country into unpredictable, quasi-permanent exile from the places they know and love.”
This is not a future we want either for ourselves or for our fellow Americans. It is time our media does a better job of reporting this and our legislators make a serious effort to slow down climate change.
The biggest single contributor to climate change is our continued use of fossil fuels. Since the fossil fuel industry is making billions, they fight any change from the status quo. The most effective thing an American can do is to call their legislators and tell them you are concerned about climate change and want them to act. Ask them to place a fee on carbon and to return the money to citizens in the form of a monthly dividend. This will rapidly decrease the amount of CO2 being emitted and thus slow climate change.
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