Common values should unify on global warming

To the Editor;

Columnist Matthew Gagnon downplays the threat posed by global warming.

However, in its report “Catastrophe Modelling and Climate Change,” Lloyd’s of London states that the 8 inches of sea-level rise off the tip of Manhattan increased Superstorm Sandy’s surge losses by 30 percent, and that “Further increases in sea level in this region may non-linearly increase the loss potential from similar storms.”

Moreover, in its 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review, the U.S. Department of Defense warns: “As greenhouse gas emissions increase, sea levels are rising, average global temperatures are increasing, and severe weather patterns are accelerating. These changes, coupled with other global dynamics,…will devastate homes, land and infrastructure.”

It’s important to look to independent organizations like the insurance industry and the military when evaluating the threat posed by climate change.Because they depend on scientific evidence to assess risk, they are less amenable to politicized science.

Our common values like national security and concern for our children’s future should unify Americans on this issue.

I’m encouraged that the bipartisan Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act has been introduced in the House of Representatives. Let’s urge our politicians and business leaders to work together and find a path to slow climate change.

Terry Hansen
Hales Corners, Wisconsin