Letters: Act now to save the Earth, or else

Re “Studies raise urgent climate alarms,” Dec. 4

It’s senseless to argue that burning fossil fuels isn’t driving the rise of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to levels that scientific core samples show have not been seen in millions of years.

Clearly the Earth’s internal system of environmental balances can be pushed out of whack by human actions. Foolish farming practices caused the Dust Bowl, and it didn’t take centuries.

I hope we are not past the global warming tipping point. We voters must demand now that the corporations making big money from burning fossil fuels bear responsibility for their actions.

Put a fee on what they dig or pump and use the money to shift to alternative energy sources and to education so that people will want to get by with less.

Suvan Geer

Santa Ana

Remember acid rain from the 1970s and the big hole in the ozone layer in the ‘80s? Both of these horrific environmental consequences caused by unregulated pollution were mitigated by strong emission standards.

A slew of companies didn’t go bankrupt as a result of these regulations. In fact, the companies were forced to streamline their production and conserve energy, improving their bottom line.

Acid rain levels have dropped by 65% since the ‘70s, and at a cost much less than originally predicted.

The Montreal Protocol (the first U.N. treaty to achieve universal ratification) set out to end the use of many ozone-depleting substances. This year, the European Space Agency reported that the ozone hole over Antarctica was the smallest in 10 years.

It is time to apply a revenue-neutral tax on carbon dioxide emissions so our children can refer to climate change as a thing of the past.

Gabriela Sosa

Los Feliz

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