×

Fixing climate change for free

The letter “Purpose for life” somehow conflates climate science with abortion. Climate science is certainly not inconsistent with valuing human life; quite the opposite. For one thing, it tells us that burning fossil fuels causes global warming, but it also kills over 9 million people every year according to the World Health Organization, over 200,000 of them in the United States, according to MIT.edu. For that reason alone, we ought to phase out fossil fuels now.

Solar and wind energy, with storage and without subsidies, are now as cheap or cheaper than any fossil fuel, worldwide and nationally. And their prices continue to fall substantially each year. If we rapidly scale up solar and wind nationwide, they’ll be “essentially free” within the next decade, according to Financial Times.

Forbes says that if we don’t stop burning fossil fuels by 2030, climate disasters will cost the U.S. economy over $160 trillion. The National Academy of Sciences says if we don’t meet that deadline, we risk future climate disasters that will cause “global economic collapse” followed by “societal collapse.”

Global warming is the greatest danger the human race has faced. We caused this and we can fix it. And it won’t have to cost us anything. A new, detailed version of the Green New Deal shows two-thirds of the money will come from private investment, according to vox.com. The rest of the cost will be more than made up for by a $500 billion annual increase in U.S. GDP. That’s because of all that free energy and the eight million, high-wage, local, permanent green jobs it will create.

Lynn Goldfarb

Lancaster

Submitted via email

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today