Mailbag: Orange County delegation is showing leadership on the other ‘pandemic’

Re “Commentary: Join the Costa Mesa council and members of the O.C. delegation in supporting climate bill,” (June 17): Robert Taylor’s recent op-ed clearly and concisely lays out reasons we need to pay as much if not more attention to climate change as a killer than the current pandemic.

Make no mistake: The coronavirus is a respiratory disease that kills humans. We mourn the staggering loss of human life. Carbon pollution in the atmosphere attacks the air we all breathe and is killing the planet. No comparison.

We must find a cure for global heating as surely as a vaccine for the virus. Our best hope for a solution to carbon pollution is legislation in Congress through the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.

I attended the hearing when Costa Mesa’s City Council wisely supported this bill. I am a strong advocate for finding a way to stop runaway climate change. We will find a cure for the pandemic. We must do the same for climate “pandemic.”

Curt Abdouch
Costa Mesa

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The author’s suggested re-framing of the climate crisis as a carbon-pollution pandemic is brilliant because it leads policymakers to focus on solutions that reduce emissions.

Responses to a warming planet or changing climate often focus on adapting to or armoring against the problem. For example, here in Orange County, where sea levels are projected to rise, coastal cities are wasting precious time and taxpayer money on plans to build sea walls, dredge harbors or replenish sand, none of which will actually stop the sea from rising. Only reducing emissions will do that.

Thankfully, our O.C. members of Congress and some city councils understand this and are advocating bipartisan national legislation which offers a real solution.

Richard H. Williams and Carolyn J. Williams
Corona del Mar

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Bob Taylor makes a compelling case that climate change affects everyone and that placing a price on carbon pollution is the most effective way to address the problem. Hopefully other cities in Orange County, including Huntington Beach, will join Santa Ana and Costa Mesa in supporting the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. We must act without delay to combat this pandemic crisis.

Paul Horgan
Huntington Beach

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We are certainly thankful for this support of the best plan for solving climate change. The newspaper coverage is also appreciated. Until we can get the price of carbon high enough to account for the cost of the pollution, no one should rest.

Kadence Martin
Huntington Beach

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