Albuquerque Journal

President acts irresponsi­bly on issue of climate change

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The most important roles of government are to protect its citizens from harm and provide a system of justice that relies on laws. We as a country are now faced with a situation in which our president is too ignorant to realize that climate change exists and actually threatens all of humanity. And because of his ignorance, Trump is willing to dismantle government­al programs like those involved in protecting the environmen­t from increasing CO2 emissions and also methane emissions from fracking. These greenhouse gases are responsibl­e for global warming. Reducing these emissions is primarily the responsibi­lity of the Environmen­tal Protection Agency, and yet Trump appointed Scott Pruitt, a longtime opponent of the agency, to be its head.

Scientists involved in climate change research who publish in the peer-reviewed journals are quite convinced that we are approachin­g a tipping point. The consequenc­es of reaching this threshold of global warming would be devastatin­g for the planet. So now we see the EPA being dismantled and climate scientists at NASA and NOAA being nervous that they may lose their jobs. But even more disturbing for them is knowing that we have only a limited time to reduce those emissions.

Given the warnings of the scientific community, putting Pruitt in this hugely impactful position can be seen as either culpable negligence or reckless disregard. This, in my opinion, is comparable to a war crime, because it is a way in which one country’s actions can result in mass genocide affecting the whole world. How can we ignore our climate scientists when they warn us of the inevitable results? All over the nation and the world, government­s are passing laws that eventually require 100 percent renewable energy to make sure we leave fossil fuels in the ground. Even today in the New Mexico Legislatur­e, there is Senate Bill 312 that requires 80 percent renewable electrical energy by 2040. These laws are being created to enable our government­s to protect their citizens from the very situation described above. BENTON HOWELL Bernalillo

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