Letter to the Editor submitted to the Alaska Dispatch by my awesome sister-in-law, Anna Maria Mueller from Soldotna, Alaska. Speak up and take action on climate change Senator Sullivan believes “the verdict is still out on the human contribution to climate change”. In a study of over 12,000 peer-reviewed papers on the subject over 97% agreed that the ongoing change in climate is not only real but human caused. The consensus is overwhelming, - and that in one of the most widely studied and critically reviewed fields in the history of science. Instead, Senator Sullivan believes the 3%. Really? I was born and raised in Austria, a country with a pitch dark chapter in its past. Growing up I witnessed first hand what it means when the young judge their parent generation on what happened (and didn’t happen). Literally every day questions were asked about who knew what and whether everything had been done that could have possibly been done. A recurring theme was why did you not speak up, why did you not try to prevent the things that happened? Many claimed they did not know, which was true for some but not for others. None of us will be able to claim we did not know. We have been warned about the enormous risks and dire consequences of our carbon emissions (climate change, sea level rise, ocean acidification and everything that goes with it), over and over again. What we do with it is up to us. None of us can stop carbon emissions single-handedly. But each one of us has a vote. Who will we vote for? What will we expect of the people we elect? Will we be caught on the wrong side of history? We carry the historical distinction of being the first who were told about the consequences and the last who would still be able to reduce the impact. What will we do? If we introduce a carbon fee and dividend system will everything grind to a halt? Of course not. But it would stop or at least reduce the externalization of the true cost of burning fossil fuels and provide a more immediate incentive for the necessary transition to other sources of energy (e.g., wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, IV generation nuclear technology). Is that really too much to ask for? It is surreal how we carry on as if there was no tomorrow and Alaska was not part of this planet. The fact is Alaska is part of this planet and there will be a tomorrow. And that will be the day when the chickens will come home to roost. -- Anna-Maria Mueller Soldotna
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 15:26:49 +0000
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