While the pace is picking up, it is a simple truth that too few U.S. politicians speak to their constituents about climate change in meaningful ways. Thus, to start with, a mark of appreciation for politicians who do make the effort to speak to their constituents to educate them and seek to mobilize them to #ActOnClimate.
This post is sparked by a weekly column from Delegate Paul Krizek (VA-44), Virginia House of Delegates, entitled: The time to act on climate change is now. So, to paraphrase from others, Paul had me at the opening line. Yes: we must act on climate NOW!
Krizek wrote the OPED (again, one of his weekly local columns to communicate with his constituents) after the release of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) discuss the “dire threat posed to our very existence by climate change”, communicate actions he as taking as an elected official (recognizing that Republicans hold the majority in the Virginia HOD), and provide thoughts as to what his constituents could do about climate change.
First Krizek makes clear this is a problem of today,
We just saw the danger of areas facing droughts with the deadly fires in California. The warmer climate creates drier landscapes and thus a longer fire season. In fact, the fire season in western states is 84 days longer than it was in the 1970, according to the Economist. These droughts will ravage the farming community. If our warming continues at the same pace, the production of some crops could fall by 75 percent by the end of the century. Warming on our current trajectory could cost our economy approximately $500 billion a year by the end of the century in crop damage, lost labor and extreme weather damage. This rivals the damage of the last economic recession!
He then discusses policy level actions, like emphasizing renewable energy (including legislation he has introduced to ease the path to securing solar power in the Commonwealth). And, he then turns to personal actions such as recycling, reducing plastic use, and insulating the home.
He concludes the OPED
research indicates that if we commit now to make strong adjustments within the next ten years we have an opportunity to minimize the long term damage and possibly even work to reverse some of the effects. However, if we remain complacent and don’t act, our children and grandchildren will suffer tremendous consequences.
- The tone and proposals don’t rise to the level of the challenge of climate change to Virginia nor the opportunity that aggressive actions can create
- Telling people to ‘insulate homes’ is a message resonating from decades ago — it absolutely isn’t wrong but, well, shouldn’t the appeal be greater.
- Virginia is a laggard related to climate action
- with mediocre energy efficiency status/programs/etc, too much power to climate-denying industry (especially Dominion), mediocre government leadership (think about greening schools, net-zero government buildings, etc … Virginia is NOT a leader), etc …
- Virginia could, if the political elites chose to act, could be a leader. (For an idea of what I think merited/possible, here is my commentary during the d
Gov. Northam’s climate math doesn’t add up
- It is not possible to speak seriously, about climate and Virginia without mentioning Dominion Energy.
- Those pipelines, along, will essentially double Virginia’s power system climate impacts. As Sierra Club’s Glen Besa has powerfully laid out, these two pipelines will add roughly seven times as much carbon impact as would be reduced through Virginia entering a carbon trading program.
- E.g., allowing the pipelines to move forward doesn’t simply negate every positive action on climate change but will worsen the situation even with aggressive action elsewhere.
- And, therefore, Virginia politicians who make any claim to being climate conscious must address these two (massive) elephants in the room … and should stand up to be counted to stop these projects which will be economic disasters for Virginia and Virginians along with being climate monstrosities.
- Some words about ‘climate adaptation’ (and not just mitigation) are also necessary.
- Dealing with climate change isn’t just about recycling, insulation, and reducing emissions but also, for example, developing an infrastructure that can handle the climate disruption that is baked into the system no matter how aggressively we work to mitigate climate-related pollution.
- And, of course, this is exactly a government role: building code, standards, etc …
- The ending sentence is troubling in terms of climate communication: “our children and grandchildren will suffer tremendous consequences.” This puts the impacts, problems into the future — as much as people say they care about their kids and grandkids, the reality is that this framing decreases proclivity to act, creates a mental mind map that we can wait to do action.
- As Krizek makes clear earlier in the OPED, we are already feeling serious climate catastrophic impacts.
- While, yes, “our children and grandchildren will suffer tremendous consequences” the truth is that so are ‘we’ already and those consequences ‘we’ will suffer if we don’t act seriously. Saying “our children and grandchildren” feeds right into (too many/most) people’s proclivity to say mañana when faced with a difficult and/or distasteful task.
As Krizek’s title screams, we should say/think mañana when it comes to climate action but hoy (today) is the time to move out on climate change.