Column: A long-term view on climate requires near-term sacrifice

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 13, 2023

Climate change is an existential threat to humanity; even if it doesn’t wipe us all out, it’s certainly going to cause an immeasurable amount of human suffering. Floods. Droughts. Wildfires. Ripple effects we can’t even imagine yet. I’ve been working in the medical field long enough to know that in order to stabilize the patient, the first thing to do is stop the bleeding. In this case, we – state, country, world – need to stop burning fossil fuels and throwing carbon dioxide into our overheated atmosphere. We can absolutely do this; we have the technology. Transitioning our economy to 100% renewable energy is humanly possible, but it’s going to take a big upfront investment. I will be voting for the creation of Pine Tree Power. Entropy is a powerful force. So is greed. The rich will not make sacrifices to help save the rest of us unless we make them. ~ Victoria Hugo-Vidal