This week’s reading in Urban Issues has confirmed the idea that we cannot take significant action against air pollution and climate change without coming to a consensus. Former President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which was aimed at reducing greenhouse emissions in order to improve the public health of the people living in the United States, faced heavy resistance from Republican lawmakers as well as people who have big stakes in the energy and fossil fuel industries. These industries would be largely affected by policies regarding environmental regulation and it seems like their primary focus is in making sure that they receive their profits no matter the cost. It does not seem like improving public health is in their best interest and that is something I find very troubling.
To take action against the major issue of air pollution and climate change, it is important that the public realizes the consequences of not solving it. The fact that air pollution kills millions per year is something irrefutable but not everyone believes that the planet’s climate is actually changing. However, you have climate scientists from NASA like James Hansen who has set a CO2 threshold at 350ppm (with anything higher being a threat to Earth’s safety) and the 400ppm mark has already been broken and will become the norm this year. These observable rises in temperature could potentially lead to all sorts of environmental crises in the future, many of which our own children in the future will have to face. Yet we still have lawmakers in addition to many powerful individuals in the fossil fuel industry that question the legitimacy of these claims. One of the first steps to solve a problem is to acknowledge that its actually there, so perhaps the right step going forward is to encourage citizens to contact their lawmakers and voice their concerns.
Yes, we need to at least take the science seriously. Then we can talk about issues like economic growth.