Nothing but extreme measures can combat extreme climate
change.
We have watched the weather get more extreme year by year. I am
looking at the forecast for Sacramento this week and see 100+
degrees every day. Droughts are getting worse. When we do get rain,
it comes in torrents leading to floods.
We have allowed ourselves to get distracted by wars, political
extremists, and covid to name a few when the real disaster of
global warming is being ignored or met with half measures. Half
measures are like watching the baby in the bath for the first half
of the bath or taking off the condom before ejaculation; half
measures do not get the job done.
I am writing
to urge you to strengthen and improve the Draft 2022 Scoping Plan
Update. Scientists have increasingly raised the alarm that this
decade is our last chance to make significant and meaningful
changes in our transportation, energy, building, and other major
infrastructure to prevent an irreversible climate catastrophe,
which is why I am disappointed that the Draft Scoping Plan fails to
accelerate the targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40%
below 1990 levels by 2030 or to achieve carbon neutrality no
earlier than 2045. It is simply not good enough to meet the urgency
of the climate crisis and the desperate need for bold actions. CARB
must achieve a more ambitious Scoping Plan that leads to an
accelerated pathway to carbon neutrality so that the state’s
40 million residents and future generations of Californians can
live in and thrive in a cleaner and healthier
environment.
I strongly urge the California Air Resources Board to
adopt a more ambitious plan on how our state will combat the most
catastrophic impacts of climate change in the crucial years ahead.
To accomplish this, CARB must improve the Draft Scoping Plan by
accelerating a phase-out of oil and gas extraction and oil
refining; not making any more investment in fossil fuel
infrastructure; eliminating or significantly reducing our reliance
on unproven and costly technologies to prolong polluting fuel
sources; pursuing more robust transportation sector targets; and
decarbonizing buildings. The escalating climate crisis demands that
CARB adopts a more ambitious Scoping Plan, one with the vision and
conviction to provide the solutions that are needed to overcome the
crisis that we face. Thank you for your
consideration.
Stephanie Herron