Misinformation about the California wildfires is itself spreading like wildfire. Call it what you will, global warming is not a hoax. Climate activists have followed the science but fossil fuel allies have knowingly shed doubt. Now the president-elect is saying that the California wildfires have been caused by Democratic policies related to water and fish. Believe that at your peril.

Disastrous climate events are unfolding faster than anticipated. “Heating is accelerating, outpacing scientists’ expectations.” We have just lived through the two hottest years on record. So called “doom and gloom” scenarios were conservative. Inaction has been our mode since President Reagan dismantled the solar panels that President Carter erected on the White House.

We can say the wildfires in California are someone else’s problem, but we are not immune. We are already paying higher homeowner’s insurance as insurance companies spread their risk. FEMA is spending more taxpayer money as our fellow countrymen continue to endure droughts, wildfires, super-sized storms and floods. Food prices have been affected by crop failures and livestock deaths due to “weird” weather.

It is time to take action on a grand scale. Join Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL), a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies to address the national and global climate crisis. CCLers should call, write and lobby members of Congress to work across the aisle to pass federal climate legislation that will promote the transition to renewable energy.

Dodie Jones
Brunswick

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