A great egret hunts for fish in coastal Louisiana. (National Fish & Wildlife Foundation)

While some regular readers believe I’m not very nice and have been very, very naughty this year, I’m keeping my fingers crossed and putting together a Christmas list anyway.

To increase my chances, I’ll leave it next to a plate of boudin balls and crawfish beignets.

So, all I want for Christmas is …

• I want the GOP to admit climate change poses an existential threat to our nation and embrace national policies urgently reducing the greenhouse emissions driving that crisis. This party is the reason progress on the climate crisis has been so slow. First, it opposed regulations that would force emissions reductions, saying that could harm the economy. Then, it unanimously opposed President Joe Biden’s climate bill, which had no regulations but only grants for voluntary emissions reductions and research. Further, fighting emissions controls is literally fighting against the future of south Louisiana. That’s because emissions are driving warming, which is driving the acceleration in sea level rise that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says could flood much of our coastal zone with two feet of water by 2050.
• I want Louisiana politicians leading an effort to make our state a center for offshore wind energy development. Yes, oil and gas will be needed in the future but in ever-reducing volume because the price for renewable energy — solar and wind — has already dropped below the costs of coal. Offshore wind energy is now moving to floating towers in deep water, and Louisiana’s decades designing, building and maintaining giant floating oil and gas wells means it has a labor force ready to lead that charge.
• I want climate science to be a required part of science study in Louisiana beginning in middle school. Not educating students in Louisiana about climate change is the same as not teaching them about hurricanes. Imagine students in California not learning about earthquakes or forest fires. Climate change is a fact of life the next generations will be living with from cradle to grave. And any that chose to live in Louisiana south of Baton Rouge will need to understand the impacts, the causes and any possible solutions.

Read the rest of the article at The Times-Picayune.

SHARE IT: