Uniting for Climate Solutions

Uniting for Climate Solutions

by Dori Wolfe

In October, Mike and Cindy Hart wrote

about taking the road less traveled, and how it has made all the difference. We are at a crossroads here in Houston, and around the world. We can take the well-trodden path filled with dependency on fossil fuels, plastics, and energy intensive living, or we can take the road less traveled. A road filled with local, organic foods; clean renewable energy; consciousraising meditative practices; and cleaner air, cleaner water, fewer tumultuous extreme weather events.

It is a road not only worth traveling for our overall quality of life and the interdependent web of life around us, but a road we must begin journeying on as soon as we possibly can. Bill McKibben, one of the earliest environmentalists to call attention to global climate change, has long been urging capping greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 350 parts per million (ppm). We are currently over 400 ppm, with no decrease in site, despite the 2015 Conference of the Parties (COP) landmark Paris climate agreement. There is a direct correlation between GHG levels and global temperatures, as evidenced by ice cores over time. The earth, despite all its natural thermal swings, has never witnessed such high GHG levels, which has been exponentially escalating since the start of the industrial revolution. This

dramatic change is the work of humans, and we need all humans to participate in the solution.

The good news is that we need not wait for the silver bullet. We have all the technology and all the solutions we need to draw down carbon emissions, as documented in Paul Hawken’s Drawdown. We just need to proper motivation to adopt and incorporate the technologies and the less energy intensive way of life. Money is an excellent motivator. When the price of gasoline increases, we drive less and conserve more—evidence of a straightforward market-driven solution affecting change.

Hawkins has said to members of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL), a group working tirelessly to generate the political will needed to implement climate action, that putting a price on carbon is one of the most effective ways to reduce emissions. Economist Bob Litterman, in speaking at a Union of Concerned Scientists panel at Rice University in 2017, said creating a market-driven solution by pricing carbon is the only way to create the necessary changes in a sufficiently rapid timeframe. An example of an ineffective solution to creating change would be to allow corporations to bring their trash to the city landfill for free. Unfortunately, that is what we have been doing since the industrial

revolution – allowing the dumping of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere for free. No penalties, no fees. But what a cost to all of us in terms of asthma, health, sea level rise and a warmer climate!

As a city, Houstonians are finally noticing the effects of allowing the “free dumping” of carbon pollution. Columnist Chris Tomlinson wrote, “The best solution is to put a price on carbon emissions, thereby improving competitive markets by forcing emitters to pay for their pollution and rewarding companies that don’t emit.” Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL), founded in 2007 by Marshall Saunders, with over a dozen chapters in the greater Houston area, and over 400 nation-wide, has proposed carbon fee and dividend legislation that if enacted would immediately reduce our use of Wyoming coal, and over time would also reduce our use of natural gas and oil. And as an added perk, this solution will begin immediately to reduce the number of ozone alerts we experience, help clean the air we breathe, and over time, help reduce the risk of extreme weather events.

Cleaner air, less pollution, less extreme weather events, all through legislation that will have bi-partisan support to pass. To help garner that support, Citizen Climate Lobby advocates have been persistently meeting with legislators to educate about and promote putting a price on carbon pollution. There are currently 90 legislators (half from each side of the aisle) on the bi-partisan Climate Solutions Caucus, creating a supportive environment to discuss climate legislation. Solving issues around climate can and needs to be a bridge issue.

There will be an excellent opportunity to learn more about being an advocate for climate issues at the CCL Regional Conference February 9 at the University of Houston. Register at http://bit.ly/CCL Houston2019.

With tools in hand, we must unite for climate solutions and begin down that road less traveled. It will make all the difference.

Dori Wolfe is owner of Wolfe Energy LLC, has over 20 years in the renewable energy industry, and is Chapter Co-Lead of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. 7703 Meadowglen Ln. Houston, TX 77063. 802-272-2328. www.WolfeEnergy.com.

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