Like many others, I am not happy about the wildfire smoke from Canada polluting our skies. This is not the first time, but it’s a new phenomenon. I’ve lived in Massachusetts for 52 years and it’s only been the last few summers that the air I breathe is filled with wildfire smoke from Canada.
Despite President Donald Trump’s claim that climate disruption caused by global heating is a hoax, climate disruption is real and it’s making wildfires worse. It makes forests hotter and drier, increasing the incidence of wildfires and making them last longer and burn larger swaths of territory. (See, for example, what NASA has to say: https://science.nasa.gov/earth/explore/wildfires-and-climate-change/ .)
That’s why Republican suggestions that we charge Canada for the smoke incursion is such a profoundly stupid idea. It ignores the fact that carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels is the main cause of global heating, that the U.S. has contributed so much to those carbon emissions, and that the U.S. has done so much to prevent action to reduce fossil fuel use.
Instead of Canada paying us compensation for the wildfire smoke invading our skies, perhaps we should be paying them compensation for our contributions to fossil fuel use that is causing global heating. Better yet, perhaps we should do a lot more to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
Reducing fossil fuel consumption would reduce the profits of the fossil fuel interests, but the rest of us would benefit in many ways. It would save money for ordinary people because renewables such as wind and solar are now cheaper than fossil fuels. It would create jobs. It would improve our health by reducing air pollution. And it would reduce the myriad harms that climate disruption is causing all around the world, such as deadly heat waves, prolonged droughts, wildfires, and flooding.
President Trump and the Republicans should focus on protecting the interests of ordinary people rather than protecting the interests of those who make huge profits from fossil fuels.
Emmett Barcalow
Amherst