The recently released report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations agency, clearly demonstrates that climate change is happening right now and wreaking havoc on the planet, and that it is the greenhouse gases created by us that is the root cause.

The good news is that the Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed new regulations on carbon dioxide produced by newly constructed coal- and oil-fired power plants that cause 40 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, and are responsible for thousands of premature deaths and tens of thousands of cases of lung disease.

Our climate just hit the highest concentration of carbon dioxide in human history: 400 ppm.

It is time that we act to protect future generations. Every child should be able to play outdoors every day without concerns about air quality.

In June, the president vowed to act on climate change with or without Congress. These new carbon dioxide emission standards for new power plants would be a big step forward in the fight against climate change. I urge Maine’s congressional delegation to support these proposed carbon dioxide standards, and urge others to contact them as well.

Ed Riggs

Albion

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