In “Climate catastrophists need to chill” (May 8, TribLIVE), Mona Charen says it’s an exaggeration to call climate change an “extinction-level” problem. I agree — but she is wrong to downplay the problem when she writes “At the more extreme end of possible effects … agriculture would be affected.”
Agriculture is already being affected by droughts and rising temperatures. As conditions worsen, millions from poor societies will seek refuge in countries that do not want them, leading to unrest and violence. This scenario is especially concerning in India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed countries with a history of conflict. Small wonder that our military planners have long recognized climate change as a “threat multiplier.”
Charen offers a world carbon tax as a possible climate solution, but questions how it would be enforced. There is a simple answer: taxing imports from countries without carbon pricing. Those countries can either pay taxes to us or follow our climate leadership.
This policy is advocated by the conservative Climate Leadership Council and the nonpartisan Citizens’ Climate Lobby. It places a rising price on carbon, returns proceeds equally to all Americans, and institutes an import tax. Read more about this sensible solution at clcouncil.org/our-solution and energyinnovationact.org.
Robert R. Mitchell
Murrysville
The writer leads the Pennsylvania Southwest chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.