I appreciate Mr. Creech’s response to my letter encouraging Mr. Wyland and his eponymous foundation to advocate steps to address global warming. It is evident that the foundation intends to remain narrowly focused on “water systems” and “water waste.”
Mr. Creech’s assertion that reducing water waste has a “tremendous impact on reducing climate-changing greenhouse gases”, and that “raising awareness about the water-energy nexus is a core part of the Wyland Foundation’s outreach mission”, led me to go through the mywaterpledge.com process that is part of the foundation’s national mayor’s challenge.
There was no explicit reference to global warming and no use of the phrase water-energy nexus. However, I was pleased to discover that the final page after pledging includes a window entitled “Your Contribution”, and the eighth item was “CO2 saved.” I also discovered, on the foundation’s My Volunteer Water Project webpage, that one of the four categories of “Collective Impact” of the current 165 participants was “Up to 592 pounds of CO2 have been saved.” These two references are a step in the right direction. I encourage Mr. Creech to incorporate more extensive and explicit messaging about the impact of rising CO2 levels on water systems his organization targets for protection. After all, global warming is causing ocean acidification, dropping lake levels, flooding rivers and disappearing streams. Wetlands sequester carbon and serve as a buffer to sea-level rise. Understanding the relation between these observations and global warming is crucial to motivate actions to reduce carbon emissions.
Gary Stewart, Laguna Beach
Editor’s Note: This letter appeared in the April 2 edition of the Independent.
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