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Healing climate hurt

A man visits the Climate Generations Areas, part of the COP21, the U.N. Climate Change Conference, on Dec. 1, 2015 in Le Bourget, north of Paris.
A man visits the Climate Generations Areas, part of the COP21, the U.N. Climate Change Conference, on Dec. 1, 2015 in Le Bourget, north of Paris. Christophe Ena Associated Press

President Obama praised the opening of the Paris Climate Summit as “an act of defiance” in the wake of the horrible terror attacks on the City of Light, and a call to action in dealing with the threats posed by climate change (“Obama says climate talks demonstrate global resolve,” Associated Press, Nov. 30).

According to a new poll by The New York Times/CBS, two-thirds of U.S. citizens now want to see a binding agreement in Paris to limit the impact of climate change.

Though it’s clear this climate conference isn’t going to produce all the radical actions needed to reverse global warming, there is the sense of positive momentum since the Copenhagen disaster of 2009.

According to Gernot Wagner, co-author of the book Climate Shock, “Paris is the foundation. Much more, of course, needs to happen. That means creating a platform for those willing and able to move beyond their Paris commitments to do so. It means finance. It means R&D. Stripped to its basics, it simply means two things: First, Paris or not, we’re in for a lot of climate hurt. Second, in the end, it’ll be a carbon price …”

A revenue-neutral carbon fee and dividend is best way forward.

Ted Hamilton, Atascadero

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Healing climate hurt."

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