Climate change — now what?

I was once told that every important news story has a “what?”, a “so what?” and a “now what?” Climate change is a critically important story and the “what?” can be answered relatively simply - our planet is getting warmer with global temperatures again hitting a record high in 2016. Nine of the ten hottest years in history have occurred in the last ten years.

People ask “so what?”. This is harder to answer because rising temperatures will have many adverse impacts. Locally, we’ll see rising sea levels that make it much easier for winds, storms and tides to push water into streets and properties in downtown Olympia. Hotter temperatures and drier soils are expected to increase the frequency and severity of wildfires statewide.

Most important is the “now what?” Here, the answer is straight-forward: the world needs to rapidly transition from fossil fuels to clean energy to meet electricity, heating and transportation needs.

This transition will not be easy. Unfortunately, the Trump Administration is moving in the opposite direction by promoting greater use of coal, oil and natural gas. This is bad policy and bad news for the planet. South Sound residents are fortunate to have elected officials that are committed to addressing this problem. We need to actively support their efforts to enact common-sense legislative solutions that put a price on carbon emissions. These include Governor Inslee’s proposal to tax carbon emissions, and the Carbon Fee and Dividend plan developed by the Citizens Climate Lobby.

This story was originally published June 29, 2017 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Climate change — now what?."