Support Carbon Border Fee by Barbara Fett Timmer
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No Need to Wait to Enact Carbon Pricing by Barbara Fett Timmer
Folks, if our planet could talk it would scream for help! We can no longer assume “manifest destiny” when harvesting and over harvesting earth’s resources without thought to consequences of global warming and climate changes. The International Panel on Climate Change at the UN released the Sixth Assessment Report, focusing on mitigation strategies; how to slow the warming trend. Carbon pricing is mentioned 680 times and called “the most powerful and efficient” strategy available to reduce carbon emissions. This requires putting a price on pollution, to incentivize companies to transition to clean energy, increase jobs in clean energy, and rethink their operations to reduce carbon emissions. The good news is that it is possible here, right now. It has attracted already a great deal of study; and with the right cooperation among our governing bodies it could implemented right now. Even better? A “carbon cash back” from the monies collected from this strategy could be distributed back to ...
Three Ways Global Warming Affects Weather by David Rieck
Three Ways Global Warming Affects Weather When there has been a big storm it is often reported that it was partly due to global warming. Not everyone understands or believes it. I will explain the steps in the process, working from things we already know, so that everyone can be sure it is true. Everyone can see that cloudy nights are seasonably warm and clear nights are colder. This is because heat, as infrared light, scatters off of cloud droplets, and some of it goes back to earth. Molecules of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases also send heat back, but in a different way. They absorb the infrared light, and then radiate it back in random directions. Some goes back to warm the earth and the lower atmosphere. Since some of the heat is being sent back down, less goes to the upper atmosphere, so it becomes cooler. This twin effect of greenhouse gases, warming lower atmosphere and cooling upper atmosphere, is the key to understanding...
Fighting Climate Change Requires Cultural Shift by Nathan Dombeck
Fighting Climate Change Requires Cultural Shift by Nathan Dombeck The Gazette (Janesville WI); March 31, 2022 As gas prices continue to rise, the narrative is to offer two solutions to ease the pain at the pump: increase domestic production of fossil fuels, or purchase an electric vehicle (EV). The tools to solve this crisis will not be found in innovating a better car or improving miles-per-gallon. We need to look at our societal habits and infrastructure. Janesville is emblematic of towns across suburban US. Housing tracts extend ever further from the town center. The proliferation of strip malls decentralizes the shopping experience, spreading small stores all across the city. Societal norms require that you have the latest and greatest car; you get bonus points if it is an enormous and ostentatious truck, at least in this area (never mind that you may never haul anything in its bed bigger than your groceries). These and many other factors have led to our car-driven cultu...
Renewable Energy Can Wean Us Off Middle Eastern Oil by Norm Aulabaugh
Renewable Energy Can Wean Us Off Middle Eastern Oil In 1973, the United States experienced an Arab oil embargo because of its support of Israel in the Arab-Israel War. Oil prices rose 300%. I waited in long lines to get gas, hoping the station would not run out before I got to the pump. President Gerald Ford set a goal of energy independence in 1975. President Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the roof of the White House in 1979. President Ronald Reagan had the panels removed in 1986. Nearly 50 years have passed sine the 1973 embargo. Our foreign policy is still being held hostage by our dependence on oil. Now we also know that climate change is an existential threat to humans on this planet. Increased oil production is no longer a viable solution to our problem. President Joe Biden's Build Back Better legislation ear-marked $550 billion for renewable energy and clean transportation. Not a single Republican in the Senate supported ...
Mercyhealth Can Help Combat Climate Change by Nathan Dombeck
Mercyhealth Can Help Combat Climate Change The race to reduce emissions and slow the relentless pace of climate change is on; it is time for Mercyhealth to be a leader in our community and focus on sustainability. I recently read with interest the latest news from UW Health. The system proposes to drastically reduce emissions by 50% by the year 2030. This is the type of bold action we need out of our community leaders. Mercyhealth, based in Janesville but with outlying clinics in many surrounding areas and extending into Illinois, is a major employer and exerts a significant land and emissions footprint in multiple cities. Climate change threatens people's health, worsens respiratory illnesses, increases injuries from extreme weather events and increases disease transmissability; in other words, it is in a hospital system's best interest to address the climate crisis. We need Mercyhealth leaders to propose emissions and sustainability goals and formulate plans to achieve them....