Letters to the Editor: Are you willing to stop flying to fight climate change?

To the editor: I wonder how many people lamenting the shocking effects in our daily life due to disasters brought on by climate change would be willing to forgo airline travel, which is a contributor to increased greenhouse gas emissions warming the planet.

Shouldn’t this at the very least be a topic of discussion? Most people take it as their God-given right to hop on a plane any time they wish to travel for pleasure, with no thought that their actions may in some way contribute to the terrible natural disasters the whole world is experiencing.

Sadly, the continuing destruction — due to fires, floods, landslides, pollution and loss of flora and fauna — of those very places people want to jet off to may be the only thing that slows or stops this travel altogether.

Laurie McCall, Monrovia

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To the editor: Many people are under the impression that this heat is the “new normal.” In reality, we have not reached a new normal.

We have not reached stability, and we do not know what the new normal will be. Based on what we have seen so far, what awaits us will be hotter and even more extreme. We will likely look back on this summer as one of the last “cool” summers.

It is time to realize that we, individuals and governments around the world must all take significant action now.

Lawrence Kramere, San Juan Capistrano

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To the editor: Thank you for your editorial exposing fossil fuel companies’ disregard for the climate crisis. By allowing the industry to continue polluting the atmosphere indiscriminately, the world will reach an uninhabitable 4 degrees Celsius increase by this century’s end, which will inflict unprecedented suffering.

With the prospect of Senate Bill 252’s passage in 2024 (a mandate that both state pension funds, CalSTRS and CalPERS, divest from fossil fuels), it would be prudent for their boards to acknowledge that continued engagement with Big Oil is futile.

We at Fossil Free California recommend that, rather than wait for legislation, the funds announce this year that they will prudently divest from fossil fuel companies completely within the next five years. This will assure their beneficiaries that they value their future; it will also safeguard their pensions from the stranded assets that fossil fuel investments will soon become.

Jane Vosburg, Santa Rosa

The writer is board president and founder of Fossil Free California.

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To the editor: Your editorial misses the mark. Yes, “we need to stop burning fossil fuels and pumping pollution into the atmosphere,” but your approach to getting there is all wrong.

Big Oil is merely supplying the fuel that we consumers want. Not only that, we demand that it be available at an affordable price.

If the goal is to phase out oil, that’s a demand challenge. Every California motorist who goes to a service station for fuel is confronted with that decision. Fossil fuel divestment doesn’t reduce oil demand; it just negatively impacts financial portfolios.

It’s time we tackle the problem head on and look at our own transportation choices.

Irvin Dawid, Burlingame, Calif.