Climate change is nonpartisan

In his letter of May 11, Tom Teune criticizes Jeanne Ives for politicizing the issue of climate change on her campaign website. Ms. Ive's website, of course, criticizes Rep. Sean Casten for doing the same. Sadly, we live in hyperpartisan times in which incessant political bickering stops us from solving urgent challenges.

Climate change should not be a partisan issue. Carbon dioxide, sunlight and the greenhouse effect know nothing about political ideologies. They simply act as they do. The result is that the Earth's climate is warming due to the massive amounts of fossil fuels burned since the start of the Industrial Revolution. 97% of climate scientists accept this as fact. Perhaps we should too. The impacts of climate change are here now and they affect all of us equally regardless of our political affiliations.

Mr. Teune wrote, "I am lost to find a conservative concerned about the degradation of the environment that the Trump administration is causing." With respect to climate change, I suggest that both he and Ms. Ives watch Bob Inglis' TEDxJacksonville talk on YouTube in which he describes his conversion from climate denial to ardently supporting bipartisan climate action. A former six-term conservative representative from South Carolina, Mr. Inglis is the founder of RepublicEN, an organization dedicated to "the power of free enterprise to deliver the innovation to solve climate change."

Mr. Inglis is also on the advisory board of Citizen's Climate Lobby (CCL), a volunteer organization working to enact a plan to reduce carbon emissions while supporting energy innovation and a healthy economy. One of CCL's core values is being nonpartisan. Readers who are tired of partisan bickering and want a real solution to climate change should seek out like-minded organizations for support and write their Congressional representatives to share their views.

Scott Buckley

Naperville