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Spring is in the air. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and skies are clearing. In many parts of the world, views of mountains are now being seen that have been obscured for decades due to smog!
I am writing to point out that, while we have one worldwide crisis we are consumed with daily, the coronavirus pandemic, the other worldwide crisis, climate change, has not gone away. According to National Geographic we have seen an 8 percent decline of CO2 emissions on average over the last 3 months due to the worldwide shelter in place practices of most countries.
That number is even greater in places like China, where the February-March emissions declines were nearly 20 percent. But that decline is now starting to rebound as China gets back to business.
The world continues to be in shock and disarray over disruptions due to the coronavirus. Spring 2020, how different a world we are in that more recent springs. The coronavirus has taken a devastating toll on this country, as well as the entire world. We are experiencing something none of us has experienced before: millions infected, and hundreds of thousands dead so far. And we are still at the beginning of this terrible crisis.
No one knows for certain how the countries will reopen, and economies rebound. The masses laid off in recent months will need to be re-employed. We have seen large shifts in workforces, from manufacturing things like cars and clothing to manufacturing ventilators and PPE. If we can accomplish such a quick and immediate retraining and deployment of the workforce for this crisis, why not do the same for the climate change crisis? Can we envision retraining and redeployment of many unemployed into renewable energy options and continue our migration away from fossil fuels?
Another important way to continue migration away from fossil fuels is to support the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, H.R.763. This bipartisan co-sponsored bill proposes a gradually increasing carbon fee on polluters, and returns the proceeds to all Americans as monthly dividends. This revenue neutral proposal would discourage use of fossil fuels through market forces, and allow alternative energy systems a chance to thrive. It is additionally thought to create an estimated 2.1 million jobs…something we can all get behind. You can learn more about the bill at https://citizensclimatelobby.org/energy-innovation-and-carbon-dividend-act/.
I encourage all to go outside, take a deep breath of fresh spring air, and to think positively about how we can use this worldwide societal disruptive virus as a jump-start to a cleaner, more prosperous world that we can all live in.
Gina Owen
Randle
