Last week we resumed the utterly unnecessary march to catastrophe, loss of national competitiveness and erasure of science as a basis for policy — all in the interest of a wealthy industry needing no support and its billionaire leaders. Tens of thousands of clean energy jobs have already been lost this year. The “endangerment finding” was long coming and underpins all climate regulation, stating the climate is changing rapidly due to these emissions, and human health and safety are at higher risk. It’s obvious, happening now and the U.S. is now standing alone in denying it. Famine, climate migration, wars, extreme weather disasters, expansion of tropical diseases into temperate zones are climate-related facts now. But EPA fired all its climate scientists and hired five hacks from the Heritage Foundation and Koch’s Heartland Institute. So now our kids are being sacrificed to a real hoax. We need a Congress with a conscience.
— James Ferguson, North Park
As a lifelong Californian, I’m incensed that this administration moved to repeal the “endangerment finding.” This decision is unfathomably reckless and completely nonsensical. There is no doubt among reputable scientists that global warming is real and getting worse faster than we feared. How this administration justifies this reversal in the face of such an existential threat is mind-boggling.
What stuns me from a practical standpoint is that major analyses show clean energy is among the lowest-cost energy, often cheaper than new fossil fuel generation. At a time when affordability dominates conversations, propping up fossil fuels makes no sense. I also fear that our country will quickly fall behind other countries who are actually trying to compete in this race to implement solutions before it’s too late.
It’s hard not to see this with clear eyes: a giveaway to polluters, rooted in greed, over public interests and future generations.
— Suzanne Nordmann, Serra Mesa
Thank you for covering the repeal of the EPA’s endangerment finding. For San Diego, this is not abstract policy; it is existential.
Our region is already living the consequences of a warming climate: intensifying wildfires that choke our air, prolonged drought that strains our water supply, rising seas threatening our coastline and extreme heat that endangers older adults, outdoor workers and children. The endangerment finding is the legal backbone allowing the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Removing it strips away federal authority to limit pollution from vehicles and power plants at the very moment science tells us we must accelerate action, not retreat.
If federal leadership falters, Congress must act decisively. A market-based carbon fee and dividend would cut emissions while protecting households.
San Diego cannot afford delay. Climate action is a public health, economic stability and moral responsibility.
— Judith Low, Bonita