I write to express my strong support for the rapid electrification of buildings and a ban on natural gas.
Climate scientists around the world are clear: we need to reach peak CO2 emissions in four years to avoid catastrophic warming. This means that every single human on this planet needs to be doing as much as he or she can to reduce emissions. We also need our governments to listen to climate scientists and pass (even unpopular) measures to reduce our emissions immediately.
We are already underway to 1.5C of warming (and by some estimates, we are already at 2C), and if we continue, the planet will be unable to support life as we know it. In other words, whether it be from starvation due to crop failures, wet bulb temps reaching levels where humans cannot exist, fires, extreme weather events, collapse of oxygen-producing plankton and forests, or collapse of carbon-sequestering forests (e.g., the Amazon Rainforest is now a carbon emitter and not a carbon sink thanks to converting the land to farm beef and soy to feed cows and pigs), billions will suffer if temps increase above 2C.
Our elected officials at the state and federal levels are ignoring climate scientists. The federal government continues to subsidize oil and gas and this year alone has authorized 2000 more permits to extract fossil fuels. Our state government remains supportive of fracking, despite the pollution fracking causes, the methane and CO2 emissions from burning natural gas, and the massive amounts of water fracking consumes in drought-stricken California (the worst drought in 12,000 years, according to scientists).
We are therefore dependent on local governments and individuals to do as much as they humanly can to avoid the worst of this environmental crisis. We are out of time. We must listen to the climate scientists, follow the science, and electrify Menlo Park ASAP.
Best regards,
Susanna Chenette
