To the Editor:

Letter-writer Ernest Vitarbo dismisses the threat posed by global warming.

However, it’s important to note that 58 former U.S. national security leaders, including 35 admirals and generals, sent a letter on climate change to President Donald Trump. This extraordinary letter states: “Climate change is real, it is happening now, it is driven by humans, and it is accelerating.” These senior military and national security leaders also assert that climate change “is a direct threat to the national security of the United States,” and that addressing it should be seen “as a threat reduction issue, not a political one.”

Over 3,500 economists, including 27 Nobel Prize-winners and top economic advisers to presidents of both parties, have endorsed a plan to fight climate change. Their “Economists’ Statement on Carbon Dividends” advocates putting a steadily rising price on carbon dioxide emissions and returning the money to the American people.

This statement concludes that the price signal will encourage technological innovation and steer our economy toward a low-carbon future. Returning the revenue to households will shield consumers from rising energy prices, and “the majority of American families, including the most vulnerable, will benefit financially.” A border carbon adjustment would protect U.S. competitiveness and encourage other nations to adopt their own carbon pricing systems.

A bipartisan bill embracing these principles has been introduced in the House of Representatives — the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. Let’s thank Representatives Jim Himes (D-CT), Francis Rooney (R-FL), Susan Wild (D-PA) and their colleagues for sponsoring this bill and urge other members of Congress to support their courageous action.

Terry Hansen

10185 W. Plum Tree Circle, Hales Corners, Wisc.         June 14, 2019