Shake-up call: We aren’t helpless against climate change
One hopes our recent earthquake will serve as a shake-up call to those who believe we humans are in charge of the planet. Everything from the pyramids to the interstate highway system shows we’re the top dog around here, right? But no. Mother Nature is in the driver’s seat.
Though we can prepare for nature’s disasters like earthquakes, we can’t stop them – just like climate change, right? But no. Recent extreme weather events – record rainfalls, hurricanes, droughts; global temperatures rising, cannot be blamed on Mother Nature. We’re in the driver’s seat (literally) for this one.
Fortunately, we humans can slow, even stop climate change. A sensible plan to do just that has been proposed by Citizens’ Climate Lobby: a slowly increasing fee on fossil fuels, all returned to the public, that uses a free-market solution to get citizens to cut their fossil fuels consumption voluntarily.
One morning back in 1957, I was caught exactly half way between my friend’s house and mine during the worst earthquake since the 1906 San Francisco temblor. I froze, helpless, paralyzed by fear. We needn’t feel helpless – or hopeless – about climate change. We caused it; we can cure it.
Bruce Ratcliffe, Fresno
This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 12:39 PM with the headline "Shake-up call: We aren’t helpless against climate change."