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In Kelly Wassenberg’s Feb. 28 Albert Lea Tribune article:  “Climate action plan looks at things city can do to mitigate risks of climate change,” she outlines the challenge of providing comprehensive local climate action to address the many effects of global warming on rural communities like Albert Lea. Quoting Albert Lea City Manager Ian Rigg: “Unfortunately, there is no national plan coming to save us. I doubt state leaders will agree on workable answers. Action will come from local leaders and communities as it typically has.” 

City efforts are catching on nationally and worldwide:

• Over 350 climate mayors in the U.S. have adopted the Paris Agreement goals for their cities. More than 400 U.S. cities are participating in the EV Purchasing Collaborative, and more than 125 cities both large and small have pledged to transition to 100% clean energy.

• About two-thirds or more of mayors responding to a recent survey by C2ES and The U.S. Conference of Mayors said they generate or buy renewable electricity to power city buildings or operations, buy green vehicles for municipal fleets, and have energy efficiency policies for municipal buildings. And they want to partner with the private sector to do more.

• More than 9,000 cities around the world have joined the Global Covenant of Mayors and have agreed to share, implement and monitor their climate action plans on a common platform. 

(https://www.c2es.org/content/city-climate-policy/)

Burning fossil fuels dramatically worsens global warming, threatening us and endangering our children and future generations, directly impacting one-third of Americans in 2020. Just 1.1 degrees of global warming has already caused deadly severe-weather related heat waves, droughts, floods, fires, crop and soil damage with increased disease, poverty, climate-refugees and conflicts. Remember the heat, drought, choking smoke and wildfires of Minnesota’s summer of 2021? Recall the tragedies of Western U.S. heat waves, drought and forest fires; Eastern U.S. hurricanes and desperate Mexican border climate-refugees?

NOAA documents the enormous costs of severe-weather events at https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/. The average annual cost of U.S. weather damage from 1980 to 2021 was $52.4 billion, 2021 totaled $148 billion. (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/billions/)

These events tragically destroy lives with annually increasing costs shared by every U.S. taxpayer. 

Mr. Rigg correctly states that significant Minnesota legislative climate policy is unfortunately being delayed due to policy maker disagreement; however, there is a renewed bipartisan effort toward important federal climate action as noted in this The Hill April 25 article by Rachel Frazin:  “Manchin meets with bipartisan group on climate change”

(https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/3463163-manchin-meets-with-bipartisan-group-on-climate-change/?utm_medium=email) 

The single most rapid, effective, socially-just climate solution is federal legislation to price carbon with a dividend (energyinnovationact.org); dramatically reducing carbon emissions, growing jobs, improving our health and supporting families. Pricing carbon is the best climate solution; synergizing all other climate actions and currently supported by 49 senators and 96 representatives in Congress. This legislation will also disrupt Putin’s massive fossil-fuel revenue used to fund his barbaric war on Ukraine.

Please join CCL! (citizensclimatelobby.org/join-citizens-climate-lobby/). Tell your senators and President Biden (cclusa.org/action) to pass strong legislation pricing carbon with a dividend now! 

Michael Overend

volunteer

Minnesota Northland Chapter

Citizens’ Climate Lobby