If your vision specialist says you have 20/20 vision, you’re pretty happy. Things come into focus. I think the year 2020 has created 20/20 clarity, as the pandemic has brought many things into focus. Two realizations stand out for me: science matters, and the U.S. can mobilize with incredible efficiency.
During the pandemic, scientists and health professionals have warned of the consequences of ignoring calls to wear masks, social distance and avoid groups. Now we’re experiencing real time the predicted exponential growth of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
Hope is on the horizon, however, as the U.S. has created effective vaccines with unprecedented speed and they are being delivered with military precision.
Can we apply these 2020 lessons to another crisis — our changing climate? We need to heed the scientists who tell us the scientific evidence is solid that continued warming will bring more drought, declines of snowpack and punishing heat. Science has led to technological solutions and future innovation are likely to solve our most stubborn challenges.
Can we mobilize climate solutions with warp speed? More than 3,500 economists are on record stating a policy of carbon pricing with return of dividends is the best place to start.
Let’s apply our 20/20 hindsight to turn the climate crisis into an opportunity for effective policy, innovation and solutions.
David Folland, Sandy
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/2WTeHsw
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