The future of the planet for our kids

To say the least, I am very discouraged in this politically charged environment. There are many wrong and unethical things that are taking place. Many agree the media should be more balanced instead of slanted to the right or the left. We are living in an America that has changed. We are no longer the leader in the world. Basic leadership 101 states that working by yourself is less effective than working as a group. Our beautiful planet is very small compared to the universe and we are headed for a disaster. Recently I watched a documentary that said, “why do we need to look at other planets when we have a beautiful planet right here.” Our world is losing its beauty at a rapid rate, polar bears dying, hurricanes and fires out of control, etc. I blame the older generation for ruining the future.

I think many agree we would not breathe the car exhaust fumes. Mother Nature is at a point that it can’t do much more. A team of volunteers and I from Citizen Climate Lobby have made presentations to organizations (municipal and business). In our presentations, we use a climate simulator called EnRoads from MIT/Sloan. There is no one solution to reduce the projected 4.1-degree Celsius rise in temperature for 2100; however, there is one solution that makes the biggest impact. Placing a fee on carbon drastically reduces the temperature. After experimenting with other solutions the audience realized how our bill (HR 763) can reduce the temperature dramatically. Fossil fuels will be phasing out, and those workers will be retrained into the clean energy field where jobs will be created. Cleaner air means healthier, more productive people.

We need to work together and declare a climate emergency. Our biggest obstacle is not technology but politics. The air is nonpartisan. Mother Nature is putting up flags and we are in trouble. As of now, we have a 12-year window to steer this around. We should focus on clean energy that Mother Nature will embrace. Please don’t wait. I want my kids to enjoy the same planet that we are enjoying now.

Ron Brandes Waterbury