Environment needs our help

Reports continue to come out proving climate change is real. A recent article noted that Lake Tahoe is warming at 14 times thenormalrate. It’sthelargest alpine lake in the U.S. and known for its crystal clear blue water, but as the lake warms it is subject to algae growth and changes to the lake’s ecosystem. Lake Mead is affected, too.

Climate change is real, and regional weather patterns are changing. Our summers are getting hotter and include more days of extreme heat. Most environmental scientists believe we have played a part, but for those who think we humans have nothing to do with it, I ask: Why wouldn’t we do whatever we can to mitigate what we can?

Pulling out of the Paris climate accords, eliminating the Clean Air Act and methane regulations, allowing companies to put their waste and sludge into our rivers, and planned attempts to gut the Environmental Protection Agency are not only shortsighted, but backward thinking. I don’t want to revert to the bad old days of smog alerts and rivers that catch on fire. I don’t want to see our country join others where citizens walk around with masks because the air quality is so bad.

We know companies won’t naturally do the right thing without oversight from the agency that exists to protect our clean air and water. We must make sure our elected officials are hearing us on this. Flint, Mich., has shown us what can happen when we ignore the science. Consequences are expensive and long-term.

Our elected officials need to support a fully funded EPA. They can’t read our minds. We must let them know that this is how they need to represent us.

Mary Kottsick, Henderson