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Capitalism can be key to saving climate

A Jan. 5 letter to the editor about the Paris climate pact minimized the significance of the documented increase in earth's average temperature and posited that the Paris climate agreement is a nefarious plot to eradicate capitalism.

First, the writer downplays the importance of the fact that the earth's average temperature has warmed by 1.4 degrees to 1.5 degrees F. since 1880. Based on personal observations of daily temperature differences in the tens of degrees, 1.5 degrees might not seem like much. But climate is not weather and such a change in the earth's annual average temperature over a mere 130-plus years is actually quite large.

Second, it's mind-boggling to conclude that the goal of the Paris agreement is to eradicate capitalism under the guise of saving the planet. The global economic system is capitalism. The economies of most UN member countries incorporate capitalist principles (i.e., private ownership of the production of goods and services sold for profit in competitive markets), including the United States, Canada and Mexico, all 27 countries of the European Union, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland and many more.

Why would any of these countries sign on to an agreement that would undermine their economies? Or were the representatives of over 190 countries duped?

It seems to me that this conspiracy theory is based in concern that we can't harness American know-how and ingenuity to transition our energy sources from outdated, dirty fossil fuels to cleaner renewable energy sources without weakening our economy. The opposite is true and we can harness free-market forces to speed the process.

By putting a price on carbon that represents the full cost of using dirty fossil fuels and returning the revenues to American households, we can increase employment, save lives and significantly reduce carbon emissions.

Now that's clever.

Deni Mathews

Bartlett

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