One would hope that before embarking on a new discussion of “creative interventions” to mitigate warming produced by man-made climate change, as called for by James Carroll in his Nov. 26 column “The Earth experiment,” we might take care of the unfinished business of getting coal, oil, and gas out of our energy mix.
Since 1988, when James Hansen first testified before Congress on the dangers of climate change, the science has only gotten clearer and more alarming. Many in the media, unfortunately, have put fossil fuel industry propaganda on an equal footing with scientific fact, allowing the reading public to be deceived and confused about the certainty in the scientific community.
The Globe could make up for lost time and develop public support for strong preventive strategies by providing regular and prominent coverage of options such as a carbon tax, currently under discussion in both progressive and conservative circles. Geoengineering may indeed be the emergency procedure we must turn to one day, but let's focus on stopping the bleeding by putting a consumer-friendly fee on carbon.
Advertisement