Good on ya Dave
Congratulations to Dave Anderson on a well written, insightful description of the 1960’s change in Boulder [Re: “Hippies and street people,” Commentary, May 7].
Dennis Blewitt/Boulder
Most excellent article
[Re: “Hippies and street people,” Commentary, May 7] Sssshhhhh don’t tell anyone, but I fancied myself a hippie for a brief period in Detroit and most of the same police and gangster opinions by the non-hippie populace (in this America, land of free association, free speech, freedom to assemble) were alive there. Especially following the revolt by the poor and other citizens of African American decent that wanted answers to police brutality following the uprising in 1967.
Aztatl Garza/Albuquerque, NM
One in six is bad odds
Thanks to the Weekly for continuing coverage of environmental issues, particularly some local ones that we might not otherwise hear about. I also appreciate coverage of global issues, particularly climate change. The Weekly recently covered a study suggesting that one of six species will disappear due to global warming and a call by local researchers for increased attention to the influence of change in high mountain regions [Re: “Study says global warming will cause one in six species to go extinct,” Eco-Briefs, May 7]. A recent NASA report projects that as global warming progresses, we in the West may be in for “mega-droughts” much worse than the one currently plaguing California.
The Weekly also covers a range of sustainability actions that can form part of a response to the threat of climate change. I’d like to cut to the chase and suggest a practical path to a more comprehensive national approach.
The policy, as proposed by Citizens’ Climate Lobby, includes three parts: A gradually increasing carbon fee, imposed at the point of extraction or import of fossil fuels, provides a price signal to the economy, enabling businesses and consumers to adjust gradually and unleashes American ingenuity to devise better low-carbon technologies. Second, the revenues from the fee are fully refunded to U.S. citizens through equitable monthly rebates. The rebates keep the money in the U.S. economy and compensate consumers for prices that increase in response to the carbon fee. Finally, border tax adjustments keep U.S. businesses competitive internationally and encourage other countries to enact similar climate policies.
The good news about this policy is that it does not cripple the economy or kill jobs. On the contrary, a detailed economic study by Regional Economic Modeling, Inc. projects that while lowering U.S. carbon emissions by half, the policy actually increases GDP slightly, and creates 2.8 million more jobs than a business-as-usual scenario. Even if we’re unsure about the impacts and urgency of global warming, this approach provides cheap insurance.
For more information on this approach, and to find out how you can help build political support for it, see Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s website at http://citizensclimatelobby.org/.
David Kline/Boulder
It could be us
Could we be the one in six species to go extinct at the hand of climate change? Your article [Re: “Study says global warming will cause one in six species to go extinct,” Eco-Briefs, May 7] that referenced a new study published in the journal “science” claims one in six existing species will go extinct if the global temperature continues to increase at the current rate.
Maybe that’s exactly what we need to have happen. If we were told that humans would become extinct if we didn’t address climate change then maybe we’d move off the dime. We humans seem to need a catastrophe in order to take action. The work done by Mark C. Urban of the University of Connecticut comes just months before nearly 200 governments meet in Paris for UN climate talks aimed at forming a global deal to cut carbon emissions.
Now is the time for concerned citizens to contact Senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner and let them know that you want them to support or introduce legislation that will put a steadily-rising fee on carbon-based fuels at their source and then return those revenues to households to offset higher energy costs. Citizens’ Climate Lobby is carrying out a nonpartisan movement to make members of Congress aware of a researched study (REMI) showing that a fee and dividend approach could reduce carbon emissions and produce jobs in the coming decades.
Let our species exist so others can. Let’s look for those solutions that do not further polarize our Congress and the American people. We must help our legislators to reach across the aisle to make decisions that will benefit all of us.
Roberta Benson/Boulder
