Letter: Working Locally on the Climate Crisis

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The fires are raging in the Amazon, which until now yielded 20 percent of the world’s oxygen, and President Bolsonaro of Brazil is refusing the $20 million offered by the G7 Summit. A 700-year-old glacier in Iceland is officially dead; Okjokull glacier and mourners gathered to place a plaque at the site of the vanished glacier. Rising temperatures pose “extreme danger” to Muslims on Haj pilgrimage with temps exceeding 120 degrees, and Hurricane Dorian is strengthening and bearing down on Florida as I write this. It is very frightening to think of the climate crisis, and these are graphic and terrifying examples that should compel us to get proactive in saving our planet. Professor Tom Osborne and Professor Ginger Osborne of Laguna Beach are doing just that.

On Tuesday at the well-attended Village Laguna monthly general meeting, the discussion on the table was climate crisis and what we can do. Tom and Ginger gave a strong presentation of the Citizens Climate Lobby and asked us to join. And we shall.

They have established a local chapter in Laguna Beach of the Citizens Climate Lobby. CCL is an international civic organization with 548 chapters in and outside the United States. It advocates for Congressional passage of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR 763), now before the House of Representatives. This measure would put a price on carbon, charged at the well, the port, and the mine. Proceeds from the fee would be returned in equal monthly installments to folks with Social Security numbers. These dividend payments would in most cases more than offset the increase in the price at the pump for struggling families. The size of government would not grow, thousands of fewer people would die from air pollution, and economists conclude that if passed this law would reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent (below 2016 levels) in 12 years and 90 percent by 2050. While doing this it would create 2.1 million jobs. This is a real and necessary solution that deserves our support.

We all care about our environment, especially in Laguna, and here is a chance to do something rather than just talk about it, so please share the above information on the local CCL chapter and get involved yourself as I have by contacting Tom at [email protected] Ginger at [email protected].

Charlotte Masarik, Laguna Beach

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