Climate change is the single biggest issue facing us right now.
It's hard to think in the longterm, but if we are concerned about
the fate of the billions of californians who will inherit this
world from us, we should be very concerned about climate
change.
California's crude oil use causes global demand for crude oil to
increase. Part of this demand increase is now causing us to use oil
sourced from the Amazon rainforest, one of earth's most important
carbon sinks. While any crude oil usage is bad, this crude oil is
even worse due to the damage it causes to the rainforest. We must
prevent California based oil refineries from using this "double
whammy" crude oil that is destroying the planet even faster.
We should create policy to prevent california refineries from
using crude oil from indigenous land (especially in the Ecuadorian
Amazon rainforest). Further, we should hasten California's shift to
electric vehicles and public transit through any means we can. This
is a key issue of our time and as a California tax payer I would be
proud to help end the climate crisis even if it means my taxes or
the cost of goods I consume increases.
I hope you consider the fate of all future Californians when
discussing these policies, and opt for a route that maximizes our
chances in the climate crisis.