The events of the past year show that climate change is already impacting the world in devastating ways. California’s last forest fire season was the worst on record. Spring flooding in the Midwest destroyed homes and threatened agriculture. This summer, Europe saw record-breaking heat waves, Greenland lost more ice than any other summer in modern history, and Siberian forests suffered massive fires. Finally, due to Dorian, 2019 became the fourth year in a row to see a category 5 hurricane, which is the longest streak on record.
We need to take action, and one powerful step we can take is already in front of the U.S. House of Representatives — the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763). This bipartisan legislation uses a market-based approach to place a price on polluting our atmosphere. It would reduce carbon emissions without increasing government spending, all while returning monthly dividend checks to all U.S. households and creating jobs. I urge my congressperson, Representative Jim Baird (IN-4), to support this crucial bill, and I encourage all readers to learn more at energyinnovationact.org and urge their elected officials to support the bill as well.
John Smillie
Crawfordsville
