Considering new ideas part of commissioner’s job
From The Los Angeles Times
The global climate is in trouble, worsening faster than experts believed only two years ago, and ambitious international steps to address the problem have been insufficient thus far. In December 2015, nearly every nation on earth committed themselves to the Paris agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a concerted effort to limit the rise in global temperature to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
But scientists now say that threshold is too high — the line must be held at 1.5 degrees to prevent the climate change that’s already underway from becoming catastrophic.
Representatives of the nations that signed the Paris agreement meet this week at a United Nations climate conference in Bonn to take stock of where the world is right now, and of individual nations’ efforts to curtail emissions.
The United States will have a diplomat there even though President Donald Trump has begun the process of withdrawing from the pact, possibly the single most dangerous step he has taken.
While the U.S. government’s policy is to move backward — Trump wants to burn more fossil fuel, not less — state and local governments, other countries around the world and international corporations are all moving forward. But the plans on the table are not enough. The UN’s own Emissions Gap Report released Oct. 31 found that “the gap between the reductions needed and the national pledges made in Paris is alarmingly high,” and that emissions must be throttled back even further.
Nations also could help by pursuing reforestation programs, developing carbon storage technologies and adopting smarter agricultural and wetlands-management policies.
Given the UN’s latest findings, attendees at the Bonn convention must come up with a strategy for accelerating global efforts to reduce emissions and ensure that the world reaches net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Currently, scientists are predicting sea-level rise in terms of feet, not inches, which would inundate coastlines, destroy infrastructure worldwide and displace millions of people. We’re already seeing increased storm strength, more frequent flooding and deeper droughts, all ascribed to global warming.
More troubling is that last year’s increase came despite a global slowdown in fossil fuel use.
Some scientists fear we may be reaching a “feedback loop” in which warmer air in the Arctic thaws permafrost, which releases trapped methane (and carbon dioxide), which in turn feeds the rise in the air temperature. Others, relying on historic comparisons to previous warming cycles, think that the risk from tundra emissions might not be significant, but that increased rainfall in the tropics, which leads to microbial processes that release methane, could be.
Individual actions are important too; one person’s carbon footprint scales rapidly when multiplied by 7.4 billion. Still, strong policies by major emitting nations — the U.S. is second on that list behind China — are the best hope to arrest the rise in global temperatures. And that’s a difficult political lift, particularly in a country led by a man who believes climate change is a hoax.
Fortunately, a majority of Americans accept the science Trump and some of his appointees so rigorously rebuff. Climate change was woefully underplayed in the last election cycle, and it needs to be made a major part of the 2018 congressional elections.
If the president won’t lead on this issue, Congress must. The world is changing, and we need to do much, much more to limit the most devastating effects, from rising seas to fiercer storms to extended droughts. We created this mess, and became a wealthy nation in the process.
We have both a moral and existential duty to act, and to act quickly.
It will soon be 2018, and it’s time for Rome and her citizens to embrace the fact that we now live in a different generation and that time brings about changes. I consider myself a senior citizen who came up with the “baby boom” generation, my children identify themselves as “Generation X,” and my grandchildren are considered “Millennials.” All three are different and have sometimes conflicting ideas.
Recently, there was a motion brought to the city commission to make changes to local alcohol ordinances. Though I was against the “open container” ordinance, I am not against the commissioner who introduced it. I think it is a commissioner’s responsibility and job, especially after doing their homework, to introduce to the commission what citizens asked of them. It is my understanding that a survey was taken on this matter, and 75 percent of those surveyed were in approval and in support of introducing the ordinance.
As citizens we must understand that good old Rome, Georgia, will one day be referred to as a new and progressive Rome, Georgia. Introducing never before considered
Email letters to the editor to romenewstribune@RN-T.com or submit them to the Rome News-Tribune, 305 E. Sixth Ave., Rome, GA 30162. ordinances and modifying and amending old ones will become a part of that progression. Even though I was against that particular proposal, I feel that we need commissioners that aren’t afraid to take on amending and introducing new ideas. Being open to change might be something we should all agree on. Larry G. Morrow Sr.
Rome
On Sunday, Nov. 5, an advertisement was placed in the Rome News-Tribune by the Floyd County Republican Party (two days before the election) criticizing a sitting City Commissioner for being a “partisan” Democrat. Am I missing something here? Who could possibly be more “partisan” than Rome’s own Republican Party? The ad gave the readers the names of three candidates that the Republicans support. I would have been ashamed to be selected to have my name printed by a partisan party in a non-partisan election. This effort seems to be an example of “shooting yourself in the foot.”
How really illogical it is for the Floyd County Republican Party to fuss about a Democrat and then turn around and select some candidates for their approval! Furthermore, the issue, if one can call it that, in my opinion, is one of the least important for our city. To choose the alcohol issue for Broad Street really insults the effective police departments and Sheriff’s Office, who would never allow Broad Street to become a “bourbon street.” Really? If the words were not so insulting to Ms. Davis, it would be a laughable advertisement. Republicans, who are defined as “partisan,” are attempting to paint a Commissioner as “partisan.” That is just contradictory, inane and ludicrous! Susan B. Daniel Rome