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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Letters

US must play leading role to save planet

An environmental activist wearing a mask depicting Donald Trump
An environmental activist wearing a mask depicting Donald Trump. Photograph: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has told world leaders that they have a moral obligation to act on climate change and only 12 years in which to do it (Global warming must not exceed 1.5C, landmark UN report warns, 8 October). We must ramp up the noise until the Trump administration and their Congressional enablers hear. The first order of business should be a revenue-neutral carbon tax, preferably one that is returned to taxpayers. Former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen says such a tax is a “no-brainer”, and many other highly respected economists agree.

Beyond that and other measures to go green, America must rejoin the global community and re-assume leadership to prevent climate catastrophe. We will succeed or fail together. Only through cooperation with other nations and helping them to cut their carbon emissions can we succeed. There’s an election coming up. “Get loud,” as stadium scoreboards exhort the fans.
Carol Steinhart
Madison, Wisconsin

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