Climate change not caused by humans
NASA satellite data shows no warming since 1998. Last year featured over 1,000 cold-temperature records. Arctic ice is up 45 percent in one year. And it was recently reported that an analysis from the 1,229-station Historical Climatology Network shows 2014 to have had the coldest summer on record. The Great Lakes saw the greatest ice extent in 50 years last winter. Greenville, S.C., saw the earliest snowfall on record this week. Snowfall in Maine this past week set records. And Florida has run a record 3,000-plus days without a major hurricane landfall — all while we have the highest global level of carbon emissions in history.
Yet there are still people out there who think the earth is warming due to human action. Who are the climate deniers now?
BRIAN WILSON, ATLANTA
Climate change is too human-caused
The U.N.’s latest climate report offers “conclusive evidence” that climate change is indeed caused by humans (“U.N. committee: Humans altering earth’s climate,” News, Nov. 2). We are well past the point of debating this issue. It’s now time for bold action. The report states that we have the technology and capacity to act. Of course we do; we just need the proper motivation to get on with it. We have everything we need to solve climate change except the political will.
The tide is turning, however. The next Congress needs to act swiftly and boldly to fulfill its duty of protecting the future of this country and its citizens. They can start by taxing the emissions that are causing us harm, beginning with CO2, and returning all of that money to the public so that “we the people” can decide what kind of future we want to invest in. Let’s show how to lead again, America!
BRANDON SUTTON, ATLANTA
Let’s tighten spigot on fossil-fuel use
“Protect nature, fill gas tanks” (Opinion, Oct. 29) ignores the elephant in the room. The column calls for the government to step aside and allow more off-shore drilling. Quote: “The feds ought to open the spigot.” That’s the last thing we should do. Left unsaid is that climate scientists warn that we must keep most fossil-fuel reserves in the ground to prevent the worst effects of global warming.
If we can’t burn what we’ve found already, why spend billions to find more? We shouldn’t. While oil and gas will be needed in declining amounts for years, we should focus new investments on renewable energy and energy efficiency. If we had a carbon tax to force carbon polluters to pay their true cost, we could leave this to the market. Lacking a carbon tax, the federal government should tighten, not open, the spigot.
BRAD ROUSE, HIAWASSEE
