Stop the abuse vote for I732

In a recent issue of the National Geographic Magazine there is an article that describes how the Ogallala aquifer, the largest aquifer by water volume in the world, is going dry by over pumping. The Ogallala aquifer underlies eight states in the Great Plains and supplies 30 percent of the water used for food production in the U.S.

A friend of mine in Minnesota, the Land Of 10,000 Lakes, told me that there is a fish consumption advisory warning people not to eat more than one meal of locally caught fish a week because of mercury in the water. The mercury is fallout of coal burning power plants. If a person were to search the internet for “Mountain Top Mining” you would find an article describing how 2,000 square miles of forests and streams have been turned into a wasteland as a result of coal mining.

These are only samples of how our planet is being abused. There is much more. If we continue on this course, we will leave a world that will be increasingly unlivable for our children and grandchildren. The average citizen might feel helpless to stop such environmental damage. But there are some things we can all do to turn the tide. One is to vote for Initiative 732 this November. To discourage the use of fossil fuels and encourage the use of alternative fuels Initiative 732 will put a tax on carbon, lower the sales tax by 1 percent and provide help for low income families.

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 8:26 AM with the headline "Stop the abuse vote for I732."