Leading on climate change

Fri., Aug. 23, 2019

In this campaign season, candidates are thankfully focusing on relevant concerns, such as the need for low-income housing in Spokane. They would do well to focus on another issue that is increasingly of local importance, namely, global warming.

The article “Forces of nature” in the Aug. 8 Spokesman-Review described the effects of smoke from wildfires on local residents: respiratory illnesses, as well as anxiety and depression as people try to cope. The human and environmental effects of global warming aren’t just in Greenland or the Amazon, or flooding in coastal areas. They are here, now.

Cities such as Aspen, Minneapolis, and, yes, Seattle are working to offset this problem. Let’s see if our local candidates can follow their lead and promote ideas in their campaigns.

Chris Coppen

Spokane

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