As I look out my window on another beautiful December afternoon, I can’t help but wonder why our lawn is not blanketed in snow like many past Decembers.

We have had one of warmest falls on record. I have to admit I’m not anxious for the snow to arrive, but I am deeply concerned by its absence. Climate change can be clearly observed in our own backyards.

I am pleased that our world leaders are taking climate change seriously. I applaud Pope Francis’s recent encyclical and speeches that make clear it is our moral responsibility to make choices that mitigate climate change. At the UN’s Climate Conference in Paris, international leaders negotiated agreements that will reduce carbon emissions on the international scale. While these agreements are critical, many scientists state that they are not aggressive enough.

While there are many changes, big and small, we can all make, I ask readers to encourage our Maine senators and representatives to support a market-based approach of placing a fee on carbon and returning revenue to households. This model was originally proposed by George Shultz, former secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan, and is currently supported by the Citizens Climate Lobby, a non-partisan climate change action group. A carbon fee and dividend approach places a fee on carbon incentivizing carbon reduction while generating revenue that would be returned to Maine households.

Millie Rauch

Hallowell