Climate emergency

I was delighted to read in your June 19 article by Elena Ferrarin that Elgin has declared a climate emergency. Between 97 and 99 percent of climate researchers actively publishing in refereed scientific journals agree that human activity is responsible for Earth's rapid warming. (Before expressing a dissenting view, anyone who is not a Ph.D. climate scientist should carefully study the material at the source Ferrarin identified in her article.)

The initial effects of global warming are already here, from unprecedented monster hurricanes to unmatched forest-fire infernos. Even in Illinois, in recent years our farmers have experienced well-known effects of a heating climate. Including record droughts followed by record flooding.

While we don't know exactly when the point of no return will be reached, Elgin is right to treat climate change as an emergency. To treat it otherwise is to act like a blind man striding toward the edge of a cliff. He will not know exactly when he will have gone too far. But if he wants to survive, he must act immediately.

Of course, it is the federal government that must take the big actions and resume global leadership. This won't happen unless Joe Biden is elected president and the Democrats gain control of both the House and Senate. So, to prevent what is likely to become the 6th global mass extinction if we don't act soon, the most urgent emergency response must be to campaign for Democrats at every level.

Cities like Elgin also have an important part to play. Obviously cost as well as benefits must be carefully analyzed. But, as identified in the article, there are many low- or no-cost actions that can provide substantial benefits.

Darold T. Barnum

Oak Park