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Thank you for the editorial pointing out the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the catastrophic impact of climate change on a national and personal level (“Through smoky air, impact of drought clouds the Midwest,” July 3). To accomplish this, we must speed up the transition to more electric technologies, which produce significantly less carbon than fossil fuel alternatives.
A powerful tool to accelerate the national transition to a clean energy economy is a carbon fee and dividend program, with fees collected from producers of carbon emissions and then distributed to American households to shield them from increased energy costs. A price on carbon would drive emissions reductions in the transportation, residential and commercial buildings and industrial sectors.
On a personal level, the Inflation Reduction Act provides financial incentives to consumers, homeowners and landlords in the form of tax credits and rebates to make electrification and energy efficiency options more affordable. Local community leaders can take advantage of grants for public buildings and housing. While some rebate programs may not be set up until next year, local officials and consumers should educate themselves about these initiatives.
Millions of Americans are experiencing the reality of extreme weather events this summer. If anyone still has doubts about the science of climate change, it is difficult to dismiss the impacts of extreme heat, drought and flooding events on agriculture, the environment, wildlife, and the health and well-being of our communities. All of us — elected representatives, local officials and average consumers — must do all we can to battle this threat to our existence and build resiliency in our communities.
Citizens should urge their senators and members of Congress to pass legislation addressing climate change and take advantage of the available incentives to save energy and help our planet.
— Sheila Brown, Evanston
The urgency is undeniable
Unfortunately, as bad as this summer has been with the smoke, drought, storms, heat and such, it’s as good as it gets. Next year will be worse.
Once the permafrost started melting, our fate was pretty much sealed. To try to keep our climate survivable, we need to get serious now.
— Stephen T. White, Buffalo Grove
Rising human population
In Elizabeth Shackelford’s June 30 column on the plight of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe (“Ignoring the humanity of migrants won’t fix migration problems”), she states the oft-repeated contention that such migration is increasingly fueled by relentless climate change. That may well increasingly be the case, but the overloaded migrant vessel that capsized had 750 people from four countries whose populations have swelled, quite consistently, since 1950: Pakistan, sixfold; Egypt, fivefold; Syria, sixfold; and Palestine, fivefold. The average of those increases is nearly twice the threefold growth in the world’s population over the same period. The roots of their desperation lie well before the specter of human-induced climate change arrived on the scene. 1950 is right about when the green agriculture revolution and the arrival of lifesaving medical breakthroughs propelled our collective planetary population on its current rapid ascent.
We can only hope that the United Nation’s current projection that the 8 billion of us will level off at 11 billion by 2100. Such a flattening of the population curve is just as essential to humanity’s future as transitioning away from the fossil fuels that drive climate change.
— J.D. Colwell, Chicago
Water Department’s role
Thank you for reporting on the flooding on the West Side (“Area dries out from weekend flooding,” July 4). I can’t help but feel the problem has been underreported. The numbers seem so low as every single house on just our block flooded by at least 9 inches.
The disappointing thing to me is that our foundations are solid, and we have made many efforts to keep our basements dry, but seepage was not the problem. The water entered our home, bubbling up through the drains in our basement floors, meant to allow water out, not in. It felt like someone pushed a button to redirect the water and boom! Our possessions were instantly floating in it.
This is completely out of our control but very much in the control of the Water Department of our beloved city.
We appreciated the extra garbage truck visit on a holiday to pick up our many destroyed items, but even better would be a solution to stop rain runoff from being directed into the homes of our taxpaying citizens!
— Lisa Wilcoxen, Chicago
Elon Musk a control freak
The self-proclaimed protector of free speech has turned out to be a control freak. Banning the use of the words “cis” and “cisgender” after calling them slurs wasn’t enough for Elon Musk. Now he is setting limitations on Twitter speech and conversation interaction.
Such authoritarianism will not cure the ills of the world. Instead, it will push Twitter users into finding an alternative. “Mother, may I” gets old. Bye-bye, Twitter.
— JoAnn Lee Frank, Clearwater, Florida
His closets were stuffed
Perhaps the reason Donald Trump stored classified documents in a bathroom is because there were too many skeletons in his closets.
Chicago Tribune Opinion
— Daniel Welch, Glen Ellyn
Need for knack, creativity
Valedictorians with top grades may not be the answer to the world’s problems. Don’t beat me up for saying grades are overrated. Getting good grades is important, and it is a special talent needed for many professional fields, but in the end, it’s just a talent.
It is hard to calculate a GPA for capability, knack, inventiveness, grit and creativity — these are talents that propel people to the forefront of their careers.
I believe in affirmative action as a way of adding to the number of problem-solvers.
— Michele Niccolai, La Grange Highlands
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