Regarding the recent op-ed on climate advocacy (“Concrete federal legislation has the power to keep fossil fuels in the ground,” June 24):

Many people concerned about the climate crisis are extremely frustrated by the maddeningly slow pace of progress by the federal government in promoting effective solutions. Me included. The apparent lack of urgency by many of our “leaders” is as infuriating as it is terrifying. So, I add my voice to those who call for more action by those in position to actually do what’s necessary to tackle this critical threat.

However, calls for action – with no practical plan for fundamental change in national policy – won’t help maintain a world where life will thrive. Any interventions that will have meaningful effect will necessarily involve having politicians pass laws to enforce such interventions. And we must remember that devised solutions will need to operate decades into the future. For any effective legislation to remain durable across multiple election cycles, it must have bipartisan support.

This is why I applaud the efforts of the nonpartisan Citizens’ Climate Lobby to educate all of our elected officials and to press them to make decisions that will rapidly wean us from fossil fuels in a way that is economically sound and equitable. It need not take convincing all politicians in Washington to do this right thing – those deep in the pockets of the fossil fuel industry will never be persuaded. It would only require a simple majority. And, with unrelenting pressure from groups like Citizens’ Climate Lobby, this is doable.

Tom Berry
Kennebunk

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