Local Efforts To Fight Climate Change Takes On New Importance As Federal Solutions Are Ripped Away.
July 1, 2022
Glen Turpening
The local governments are now more important that the Federal Government when discussing climate action. (New York Times )
Legislators in Colorado, historically a major coal state, have passed more than 50 climate-related laws since 2019. The liquor store in the farming town of Morris, Minn., cools its beer with solar power. Voters in Athens, Ohio, imposed a carbon fee on themselves. Citizens in Fairfax County, Va., teamed up for a year and a half to produce a 214-page climate action plan.
Across the country, communities and states are accelerating their efforts to fight climate change as action stalls on the national level. This week, the Supreme Court curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, one of the biggest sources of planet-warming pollution — the latest example of how the Biden administration’s climate tools are getting chipped away.
During the Trump administration, which aggressively weakened environmental and climate protections, local efforts gained importance. Now, experts say, local action is even more critical for the United States — which is second only to China in emissions — to have a chance at helping the world avert the worst effects of global warming.
By Maggie Astor, 'The York Times'
Climate change is affecting the entire Globe and will have far reaching consequences for everyone on the planet. Coastal America and the rest of the World may feel the affects of a warming climate first with cities being overrun with ocean water that cannot be controlled. The urgency governments give to combating the crises will determine the efficacy of such responses. It takes time money and courage.