To the Editor:
We have an ecological deficit that is an even greater concern than our fiscal one. We’re putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than nature can absorb, and it’s threatening the very foundation needed for human thriving.
On Sept. 6, 233 health journals throughout the world, including the New England Journal of Medicine, issued a joint statement asserting: “The greatest threat to global public health is the continued failure of world leaders to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5°C and to restore nature.” The editorial notes that climate hazards like extreme heat disproportionately harm society’s most vulnerable members, including children and the elderly.
Let’s heed the words of the World Resources Institute:
“The decisions Congress makes in the coming days are likely to determine whether the U.S. can rise to meet the climate challenge. We can’t settle for ‘almost’ and leave any tools on the table that can match the magnitude of the climate crisis. We need all measures – everything in the (Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal), everything in the reconciliation package and carbon pricing. We can’t accept anything less than enough.”
In the runup to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November in Glasgow, Scotland, it has never been more important for the United States to lead.
Terry Hansen
Hales Corners, Wisconsin
