Lower your carbon footprint

Back when the weather was relatively “normal,” environmentalists used to tell us about “50 simple things” we could do to save the planet. But that approach did not work, and today a puzzling task lies before us: If we want to fend off the worst effects of climate change, we must change the way we live.

Unfortunately, most of our leaders assume that our economy will suffer if we make a serious effort to lower our carbon footprints and reduce our dependence on oil.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Every year the weather gets worse with disastrous hurricanes and flooding in some areas and drought and wildfires in others. Count these evermore numerous disasters as part of the cost of oil and oil is no bargain.

What if those of us who take the threat to the climate seriously found ways to drive less, live closer to our jobs, buy smaller cars and houses, eat lower on the food chain, buy green power? What if we wrote to our congressmen and demanded a transition to green energy? According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the above actions could make a difference.

As the environmentalist Bill McKibben has explained, people who talk about “saving our grandchildren” have not grasped the speed of change. The way things are going, our actions could save ourselves.

Barbara Bazyn

Chelsea