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Efforts on Climate Change

State Representative Christine Palm (D-36) has put Connecticut on the national radar as a leader in addressing climate change. Palm is on the ballot to continue as state representative for Chester, Deep River, Essex, and Haddam. I encourage your readers to vote for her on Nov. 3.

Why? Because Palm has the courage to face the carefully crafted rhetoric of those who’d sit back until the consequences here reach the same catastrophic levels currently experienced in my home state of California.

There the saying goes: “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” During my childhood it was true. The proximity of the central valley’s extreme heat to the cold California Current sent cool, moist air through the Golden Gate. By afternoon San Francisco was blanketed in fog.

Not anymore. Since 1970 the summer temperature is three degrees warmer, and fog comes in three hours later. Summer fog kept coastal areas moist. Its decline contributes to wildfires that have consumed more land than all of Connecticut.

In the west, climate change is in your face.

Here the impacts are more subtle. This year’s drought and our sunny day flooding don’t make national headlines. We’re fertile ground for climate change denial.

Palm was the first in the nation to propose requiring climate change education in public schools. Her bill made national news, but also prompted counter-legislation to eliminate it from Connecticut’s science curriculum. Climate change denial is alive and well here.

Palm’s second try was about to pass from the Education Committee for a house vote when COVID hit. She’ll push for its passage in the spring session. Her efforts on climate change are consistent with her commitment to serving the needs of her constituents. Palm is the legislator we need to meet this pivotal moment.

Patricia Sisson

Essex