I agree with Thomas Friedman, who called the Utah Climate and Clean Air Compact “the most important thing” happening in Salt Lake City on the same day as the vice presidential debate. During the debate, Vice President Mike Pence recycled old talking points questioning what is causing climate change and tried to perpetuate a false narrative that President Trump cares about climate science. But just last month, at a briefing on the California wildfires, Trump actually dismissed climate science when he said “I don’t think science knows, actually.”
Thankfully, elsewhere in Utah, a bipartisan virtual gathering of our most influential thinkers and policymakers acknowledged climate science and the danger climate change poses while presenting a set of principles all Utahns can and should get behind.
We live in one of the most conservative states in the union, which makes it all the more refreshing to see the likes of Sen. Mitt Romney calling climate change what it is: a top-three challenge we need to address in the first half of the 21st century.
As a young millennial raising my own family, I can tell you I do not think it’s alarmist to say time is running out. But with this Climate and Clean Air Compact and with Sen. Romney, Rep. John Curtis, Rep. Ben McAdams, and Gov. Gary Herbert acting like real leaders and not empty suits, Utah stands to set a climate leadership example for other states — and ultimately, the federal government — to follow.
Nicholas Huey
Taylorsville