J.J. Gasparotti in his column on Oct. 18 rightly calls for adaptation to sea level rise but says nothing about addressing the carbon emissions that are causing it. Think of the metaphor of an overflowing bath tub…We can do a lot of mopping up and moving things away from the spill area, but unless we turn off the tap, much of this adaptation will be fruitless. Our Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763) turns off the tap. Until we do that, the seas will continue to rise, and storm surges in El Niño years will wreak havoc on our town’s low-lying areas, especially Main Beach. Our City Council should officially endorse H.R. 763 as the Santa Ana City Council did recently.
Charlotte Masarik, Laguna Beach
Absolutely agree Charlotte! And, shouldn’t assessing the carbon impact of major redevelopments be part of City Staffs report? Laguna is mandated by the State of Calif. to lower our carbon impact to 1990 levels. How can we meet that goal if we allow triple and quadruple intensification of block long areas? That would entail demolishing all of the already embedded carbon in existing buildings, the Colossal Carbon Footprint of new construction, and then the lifetime operating impact and carbon footprint of all those new AC units, mini-fridges, rooftop heaters, pools, etc. This is on our watch folks. How do we answer future generations that ask “What did we do to curb the climate crisis?”