Our Changing Climate

Mr. Jacobs [Jan. 3 issue] questions, “how truly sincere are the global warming advocates?” Why should we listen to a teenager like Greta Thunberg?

It is interesting that Jacobs found his late professor, Dr. F. Sherwood Rowland, when he was looking for a scientist who deserves to be the “spokespersons of the climate change endeavor.” Jacobs concluded that since Dr. Rowland had never spoken in class about global warming, he wasn’t qualified to be a spokesperson.

Dr. Rowland was an expert on Ozone Depletion. I would seriously doubt that a Nobel Prize winning scientist would sign his name to a document he did not agree with.

Dr. Rowland was undoubtedly one of the scientists whose work convinced President Ronald Regan in 1987 that the situation with the ozone depletion was critical. Sometimes scientists need a little PR to get their research recognized, and to build political will to spur action.

In a 2015 letter to The Wall Street Journal, Lee Thomas, who headed the Environmental Protection Agency from 1986 to 1989, wrote: “President Reagan recognized the environmental risk of chlorofluorocarbons. [ He] heeded scientists, … while many in the industry raised issues of cost, technical feasibility and scientific certainty.”1 Reagan heeded the scientists and convinced congress to take action in 1987.

We need to convince our politicians to listen to the scientists. We need to act now. Solutions are available.

The bipartisan Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763) is a carbon fee solution that distributes the revenue as dividends directly to U.S. citizens. Economic modeling shows that this plan will rapidly reduce carbon emissions and maintain a solid economy.