LETTER : U.S. should be a leader in finding climate change solution

To the Editor:

An editorial last Sunday, “Arctic Council Sets Climate Marker,” includes a strange claim about climate change: “What can be debated — and is being debated — is the extent of human action as the cause…”

There is no real debate at this point. An overwhelming amount (and variety) of scientific research has converged into the scientific consensus that human activity is indeed the cause. Leaders as diverse as Pope Francis and the Evangelical Climate Initiative have recognized this. In fact, the quoted statements by the Arctic Council reflect all this, attributing climate change to “greenhouse gases and short-lived climate pollutants.” Oddly, the editorial seems to accept these statements, which don’t give any credence to a fictional “debate.” Where there is room for debate is what solutions would be best.

Two very promising solutions are the carbon-fee-and dividend proposal of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (citizensclimatelobby.org), and a similar proposal by a group of Republican elder statesmen, led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, former Secretary of State George P. Shultz and former secretary of the Treasury Henry M. Paulson Jr. The United States should be leading the effort to find a solution, not putting its head in the sand.

— Phil Somervell

Palmer