Letter: I-732 will cut carbon’s rise

I read this yesterday, "As Hurricane Matthew impacts the East Coast of the U.S. this week, it is important to consider how increasingly warm ocean temperatures around the globe are causing record-breaking rainfalls and more powerful tropical storms and hurricanes. They are also disrupting the entire marine food web."

You and I, by adding carbon to the atmosphere, contribute daily to the warming of the ocean and the world. In 1987, Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, found there were 350 parts per million (ppm) of carbon in the atmosphere. Recently, that site measures 400 ppm. The temperature rise on Earth parallels the rise of carbon ppm.

This year, the U.S. Congress could pass a fee on carbon, to be equally refunded by a monthly dividend to individual households. We must make polluters pay and return the money equally to every household. If we create less carbon, everyone benefits. Let's reduce carbon and rising temperatures that cause severe weather like Hurricane Matthew. Let’s stop racing past a frightful point of no return.

Vote in November for similar Washington State legislation: Initiative 732. For a cleaner, safer future vote yes for I-732. Climate change is real. We let's fix it.

This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 4:34 AM with the headline "Letter: I-732 will cut carbon’s rise."