The Copenhagen Imperative

Even if you are not a believer in the facts, that the climate is warming, it is imperative that we act now on containing and reducing air pollution.

First let's take a quick look at the evidence. The 12 years from 1997 to 2008 were among the 15 warmest on record. The '00's were  hotter than any prior 10-year period. And temperatures have risen by close to six degrees since industrialization began to pour carbon into our atmosphere in earnest back in the 1880's.

                                       

                   Source:  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

But even if the climate were not warming the planet do we want to continue to pour billions of tons of pollution into the air we breathe? Let's face it, diesel particles in our lungs are not a healthful thing. Acid rain, a result of burning coal falling in our waterways and killing fish is really not a positive. Ozone pollution from carbon dioxide killing off the giant Sequoia's in California is a tragedy.

According to the Health Effects Institute of Cambridge, MA  recent studies observed 30 to 50% increases in lung cancer rates associated with exposure to particles penetrating the lungs. I really am not enamored with that prospect.

However, while the Obama administration is trying to bring the U.S. into a leadership role on climate change at the Copenhagen Climate Summit after a lost decade under George Bush, the shrill Republican right, whose raison d'etre is to destroy Obama ahead of the 2010 Congressional race, is putting every obstacle they can conjure in his path so he will fail.

Is it not time for this country to come together on anything? We are talking about the health and well being of every man, woman and child who is alive today. No matter what the specifics are of scientific evidence, whether temperatures have risen one degree or three degrees, whether sea levels have crept up one inch or one foot is not the point. The point is we need to live in harmony with this planet in order to flourish and prosper. Degrading the atmosphere is the antithesis of creating that harmony.

We cannot lose by reducing pollution levels. In fact, it could be an economic plus if the government gave significant tax credits to business owners, factories and auto manufacturers to retrofit their facilities and products. Let's stop petty bickering and clean up the planet!