My daughter will celebrate her first birthday on Earth Day. She is a third-generation Oregonian. Her father can hardly wait to teach her to snowboard on Mt. Hood, and I anticipate summer camping trips to my favorite spots in Central Oregon. But as her Earth Day birthday approaches, I wonder what kind of Oregon she will know.
Climate change means we're seeing diminished snowpack and more severe forest fires. Already in her young life she has been kept inside for days because the air quality was so poor. Fresh, deliciously good-smelling air is kind of Oregon's thing. I want her to kn ow that.
This is to say nothing of more vulnerable communities around the world who will see their homes, livelihoods and their physical selves, threatened by rising temperatures and sea levels and the instability of a rapidly changing planet.
There are solutions. The first step is to put a price on carbon. After all, it already costs us dearly. One especially effective solution is a carbon fee and dividend, where revenue from the carbon fee is returned directly to families in a monthly dividend. Above all, I want to see action on climate from Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Rep. Earl Blumenauer. Help us protect the Oregon we love.
My daughter is too young to know she can ask for things on her birthday, so I'm asking for her.
Kendall Sand, Northeast Portland