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Make calls for climate policy

I’m writing to urge your readers to call our U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman to ask him to co-sponsor H.R. 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, on June 5, a national call day promoted by the Citizens’ Climate Lobby group. Passage of this bipartisan, revenue-neutral legislation will help slow down the dangerous human-caused climate change that is causing more costly weather-related disasters.

I also hope your readers will contact our senators, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, and ask them to support the introduction and passage of a similar bill in the Senate.

The great majority of the most-qualified scientists in my field of atmospheric science believe human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and other activities are responsible for a dangerous climate change/global warming and that urgent action to reduce our footprint is necessary to avoid the worst impacts. Although recent months have been chilly here in the western Great Lakes, March 2019 ended up as the second-warmest March in terms of global average temperature since 1880. The five warmest years have all occurred since 2014, including 2016, the warmest on record.

The change in atmospheric circulation patterns as well as increased atmospheric water vapor concentrations related to this overall warming atmosphere will result in a higher probability of extreme weather occurrences, both flooding and drought in addition to more heat waves/occasional periods of very cold weather. The higher probability of the occurrence of these extreme weather events will require expensive responses that exacerbate budget deficits.

The huge costs to repair damage following recent hurricanes, floods — including ones that affected the Keweenaw last summer — and wildfires, especially over the western U.S., are a sign of things to come. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates weather-related disasters cost the U.S. economy more than $300 billion in 2017.

The accompanying poleward spread of disease will also exacerbate health care expenses. A report recently issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated human-caused climate change is enhancing the extinction of wildlife.

The bipartisan group Citizens’ Climate Lobby is encouraging the public to call our congressional members on June 5 and urge them to support H.R. 763, which will encourage a transition to clean, renewable energy sources. I encourage your readers to call our federal lawmakers by going to cclusa.org/call and following the listed scripts to find their contact phone numbers and encourage them to support this legislation.

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