With climate crisis looming, it’s time for leaders to take bold action

The Columbus Dispatch
by Aaron Dunbar
April 19, 2021

Political leaders: The time is now for bold action on climate change

Last year I received a handwritten note in the mail from Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, acknowledging my letter published in The Dispatch about natural gas pollution.

I was surprised and grateful to have received such a response, because I am used to having my voice as a constituent ignored by my elected officials, particularly as a resident of a tiny southeast Ohio town with only a few hundred people.

I recently read that April 2021 might be one of the most important months for taking action on the climate crisis, given the upcoming climate summit with world leaders on April 22-23.

The plain fact is that to avoid a runaway climate catastrophe, we need to slash global greenhouse gas emissions by at least 49% of 2017 levels by the year 2030. Right now, the world’s total climate pledges will result in only a 1% reduction by that date.

I would therefore like to publicly call on Brown, Sen. Ron Portman and all other Ohio lawmakers to push the Biden administration to take bolder, more comprehensive action on climate, and to express their vocal support for green job-creating legislation such as the THRIVE (Transform, Heal and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy) Act.

Our window to take action is rapidly closing, and those in power must do everything they can to ensure a safe, clean, and prosperous future for Ohio, America, and the world.