This is the summer where our climate future has shown its face. The heat has been intense beyond anything in my memory. I’m glad I don’t live in Phoenix where even the cacti are wilting.
Policies that would substantially reduce our use of coal and oil, that might take us off the escalator to misery, make people nervous. I suspect they worry they’re losing their chance at the American dream.
But it’s not the American dream in southern Utah if you can’t work your family’s farm because there is too little water in the Colorado River to irrigate your crops. It’s not the American dream in Florida or California if you can’t buy a house because the insurance companies have fled, and you can’t get a mortgage. It’s not the American dream in Arizona or Texas if you’re telling your children not to play outside because it’s too darn hot.
I admire Rep. John Curtis for starting a conversation about the climate among Republicans. But it is urgent that we move past talk and into action. So if you want to keep the American dream, ask your representatives in Congress to go big on climate to give us all a safe future.
Steve Glaser
Holladay