The letter below was submitted to the Bernardsville News and published in the print edition on November 9, 2017.
EDITOR:
Hurricane Harvey dumped record rains on Houston. Myrtle had Category 5 hurricane winds for a record three days before it destroyed most of Porto Rico. Wild fires in northern California killed 42 people and destroyed 8,000 structures.
No responsible climate scientist will say with certainty that all these events were caused by global warming, But no rational and responsible person will deny that the potential causes of these catastrophes, and the actions to reduce their occurrence, must be discussed seriously by our decision makers.
Fortunately, some decision makers are stepping up.
Following the 2016 election I wrote in this space that the mission of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby “has been to build support in Congress for government action to slow climate change. We have assumed that the White House would continue to lead, and that, with our help, bipartisan majorities would form in both the Senate and House of Representatives to follow and adopt appropriate legislation.
“We must now revise our plan and persuade the Republican controlled Congress to lead. Will this be possible? For the sake of my grandchildren and children everywhere, I pray that it will be. Will this be difficult? Yes. Will this take more time? Yes, and we have no time to waste.”
I then described several examples of Republican leadership on environmental matters at local and national levels.
This past May I reported progress. Members of the House of Representatives had formed the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus to “look for economically viable options to reduce climate risk.” By design there were an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, at that time 36 total members.
I am very happy to report here that there are now 60 members in the caucus, 30 from each party. Congressman Leonard Lance, who represents us here in N.J. District 7, joined in June.
In May I also reported on the Republican Climate Resolution (H. Res. 195). By April it had been co-sponsored by 17 Republican House members. Three of its nine findings follow:
“It is a conservative principle to protect, conserve, and be good stewards of our environment, responsibly plan for all market factors, and base our policy decisions in science and quantifiable facts on the ground.”
“If left unaddressed, the consequences of a changing climate have the potential to adversely impact all Americans…”
“There is increasing recognition that we can and must take meaningful and responsible action now to address this issue.”
There are now 22 Republican co-sponsors of the resolution. These include N.J. Congressmen Leonard Lance, Fank LoBiondo, and Chris Smith.
Thank you Congressman Lance and your Republican colleagues for stepping up to the most challenging issue of our times, and the one most important for our children and everyone’s children.
Bill Allen