Letter: Fight climate 'doomism' with action on carbon

The climate crisis alone is a daunting beast, let alone when paired with war, a pandemic, and high inflation. It is easy to fall into the grasp of "doomism," the feeling that there is nothing that can be done to fix a problem and so you shouldn't even try.

But doomism is just fear making us feel helpless.

Though we may not be able to avoid all of the negative effects of climate change, we can take action to prevent the consequences from being worse.

One such action is supporting carbon fees and dividends. This strategy involves a tax being placed on any fossil fuel that enters the economy, and then distributing the revenue back to our pockets.

Fossil fuels would become financially disadvantageous and would be phased out in favor of renewable energy, all while paying the general public to support us through the transition.

There are already bills in Congress to implement this strategy: the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 2307) and America's Clean Future Fund Act (S. 685), the latter of which was sponsored by our own Sen. Durbin.

We're only doomed if we choose to do nothing. Something as simple as contacting your representative and asking them to support carbon fees and dividends can make a big difference.

As originally said by folk singer Joan Baez, "action is the antidote to despair," and we all have the power to take action.

Leah Bieniak

St. Charles