Editor,

Let’s jump forward to 2040 and see what’s new with our climate crisis. It seems countries of the world finally united to actually do something about that advancing climate change. That old 019 paralysis rooted in fear and uncertainty has spawned a shared passion to turn things around to secure our lives and our planet. Oil use has plummeted amid amazing life-style changes and a dazzling array of alternate energy systems and devices that are actually moving that atmospheric CO2 meter in a downward direction, not seen since the industrial age. Entire countries are actually working together to combat greenhouse gasses,leaving that addictive fossil fuel economy in the ground where it belongs.

How’d it happen? Well, the climate crisis was hitting home, a 2020 U.S. election got us back in the U.N. Paris Climate effort and by 2022 a national carbon fee scheme was hammered out to impose fees on those CO2 emitting products — oil — which were literally sinking our ship.

Such a scenario starts with electing and supporting leaders that have a passion for abandoning our fossil fuel based economy and unleashing the American enterprising initiative to develop and promote a carbon neutral one. It includes a revenue neutral pollution fee attached to CO2 emitting products. We all know what happens when our free enterprise system sees an opportunity to develop less costly and more efficient energy, we innovate and make it happen.

But we didn’t get out of this unscathed however. Unprecedented species extinction, trillions of damage from intense weather events and a persistent mass migration of people from coastal areas has wreaked some havoc for sure.

If you’re tired of just watching the climate crisis happen in real time, take action, go to www.citizensclimatelobby.org and check out the energizing positive steps we must take to get off of fossil fuels and make that 2040 optimism a reality.

Citizens Climate Lobby has been successfully promoting such a carbon-fee for 10 years now and even Whidbey Island has a dynamic chapter. CCL works with our current system of government in a positive, non partisan manner and has succeeded in getting The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2019 , H.R. 763, within the U.S. congress. It’s time for us all to make it happen.

Dean Enell

Langley