Advocates hope global resolve over the pandemic is a model for climate action. The nation’s $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package throws a lifeline to small businesses, the unemployed, airlines, hospitals, and student loan debtors. It contains almost nothing environmentalists have pushed for, and it certainly does not put the country on the sort of carbon crash diet that climate scientists and activists say is necessary to head off the worst effects of a changing climate. For now, that’s appropriate, many climate advocates say. But there’s a consensus that the time for that is after the health crisis passes, as Congress moves from emergency relief to stimulating the nation’s economic recovery. In an open letter to members of Congress sent March 22, dozens of climate scientists and activists outlined how upcoming stimulus packages could speed up decarbonization. Options range from expanding the federal Weatherization Assistance Program to cut utility costs and carbon emissions from homes, to ending fossil fuel subsidies and phasing out oil and gas drilling.
By Jennifer Bjorhus. Star Tribune. April 1, 2020.
