Letter: Let’s move toward better climate solutions | AspenTimes.com

Letter: Let’s move toward better climate solutions

I am writing about the Dec. 4 article titled "Warming trend hampers snowmaking, snowfall in Aspen-Snowmass." Although the article never actually mentioned global warming, most readers would have inferred it. Warming is a trend all over the world, whether the locals in any given place accept it or not.

Lately, I have heard more people putting their faith in geoengineering: large-scale technological solutions intended to lessen some aspects of climate change. For example, sulphur aerosols could be injected into the atmosphere to reflect more sunlight and create "global dimming."

It's true there may be ways to partially counter the effects of the roughly 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide the United States produces every day, but these solutions will cause more problems. Past innovations such as air conditioning and snowmaking are solving problems for us right now — all the while using more energy to do jobs that nature was once well-qualified for. Even when it works, technology is not always pleasant; who among us prefers the hiss of a snowmaking gun to a million snowflakes drifting silently down onto the slopes?

The real and unavoidable answer is to address the rampant production of greenhouse gases directly. The Citizens' Climate Lobby is proposing a sensible, effective plan for a carbon fee and dividend. The fee will send an immediate price signal to steer investment away from high carbon emitters and toward better solutions. And the dividend will be collected by the American people to use as they please — perhaps on lift tickets.

Noah Davis