Allegheny County Council member Anita Prizio is right to point out the need for strong moves to respond to the threats associated with the growing climate crisis (“Pennsylvanians deserve bold climate action — and accountability,” Aug. 4, TribLIVE). The high and growing costs will certainly be disproportionately borne by those who are least responsible and least able to pay.
The call to have Allegheny County use legal means to hold fossil fuel companies accountable is a welcome, if belated, first step. I urge Prizio to work with her colleagues on the council to start such actions as soon as possible. However, these legal actions are just one of many fronts. The council also should use all available measures from the Inflation Reduction Act to fund local climate-related efforts, and work with legislators in Harrisburg and Southwestern Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to promote state and federal policies to help fund responses to climate change and to promote policies that will drive us to a carbon-free future.
Harry Hochheiser
Squirrel Hill