Time to act is now

Regarding “Skepticism a reasonable response to climate report” (Our Views,

Dec. 2): Like the U.N. report released earlier this year, this report by scientists from 13 federal agencies makes painfully clear that without drastic action, we will pay dearly for climate change in both dollars and lives. The

National Climate Assessment echoes what scientists been saying all along — we must act now. If we don’t, sea levels will rise, air quality will worsen and extreme weather events will increase. Inaction will hurt our health, our economy and our communities. Please read the report or at the least the summary to find out more details.

The good news? The report also makes clear that “future impacts and risks from climate change are directly tied to decisions made in the present.” That means there’s still time to act. To do that, we must get our friends, families and neighbors involved to demand bold action on climate from our leaders. They must pull their heads out of the sand and act to deal with this colossal threat to all mankind. To preserve the profits from their pollution, the fossil fuel industry has convinced some of the public that environmentalists are the enemy when all we have done is dedicate our lives to protecting the common good for everyone.

Susie Shields Derichsweiler, Oklahoma City