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Your National Park Needs Your Help
CONNECT. SUPPORT.
Your River.
Your Park.
Chattahoochee
River National
Recreation Area paces mil?
CHATTAHOOCHEE
NATIONAL PARK CONSERVANCY
chattahoocheeparks.org
JOIN TODAY! For as little as $5 a month, you can
join the community that supports the Chattahoochee
River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) and its
15 park units along 48 miles of the Chattahoochee.
Visit www.Chattahoocheeparks.org or scan:
/•St NATIONAL
Chattahoochee National Park Conservancy is the official philanthropic C
partner of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. ■« "
SUSTAINABILITY
Celebrating a bittersweet
climate victory
“It’s late. It’s deeply compromised, and it’s
also a great victory for all who have fought so
long and so hard,” tweeted Bill McKibben,
author, activist, and founder of 350.org, a
global grassroots movement to solve the cli
mate crisis.
McKibben’s succinct, if seemingly contra
dictory, words describe the first major climate
legislation in U.S.
history. Dubbed
a welcome shock,
a turning point,
the floor (not the
ceiling) of our
ambition, and a
sign of conces
sion by those in
power, the vic
tory can largely
be attributed to
the relentless de
mands of climate
and environmen
tal justice groups
over many years.
Without a
doubt, the legis
lation represents a major shift from previous
U.S. climate policies in terms of tone, fund
ing, and priorities. By 2030, it’s expected to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
by forty percent from 2005 levels, using near
ly $400 billion over ten years for clean ener
gy tax credits, climate justice initiatives, and
other incentives. Importantly, the significant
climate investments are hoped to invigorate
similar efforts by other nations.
Named the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
of 2022 (for political acceptance), the legisla
tion has also been a great disappointment to
many scientists, activists, officials, and pro
gressive businesses. They know, and have
known for decades, that time is fast running
out to avoid or even minimize the catastroph
ic consequences of a heating planet for near-
ABOVE
THE
WATER
LINE
BY SALLY BETHEA
ly eight billion humans, particularly and un
acceptably the disadvantaged. They know that
we will not prevail in this fight unless we end
new investment in fossil fuel projects, phase
out production, and make a speedy transition
to clean, renewable energy sources.
Now, the real work begins. Whatever we
do collectively—or don’t do— in this decade
will likely determine the ultimate fate of bil
lions of people, including our own families,
and other species.
Decades of Delay
Despite being advised of the seriousness of
the climate crisis thirty-four years ago, when
then-NASA scientist James Hanson so testi
fied to the U.S. Senate, our elected officials
have failed to take necessary actions. Instead,
they have preferred delay and obfuscations
like blaming the behavior of individuals,
while pandering to the executives, lawyers,
and lobbyists for Big Coal, Oil, and Gas, col
lectively Big Carbon.
A 2010 Supreme Court decision (Citizens
United) removed reasonable political cam
paign contribution limits. According to the
New Yorker’s Elizabeth Kolbert, “Fossil-fu
el companies quickly figured out how to fun
nel money through front groups, which used
it to reward the industry’s friends and to pun
ish its enemies... Bipartisan activity on com
prehensive climate legislation collapsed [after
Citizens United].”
In a sudden reversal of position that was
stunning, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) agreed,
in late July, to support a climate and health
care bill, despite his deep ties to the coal in
dustry. With a slim margin—Democrats in
favor and Republicans opposed—the mea
sure passed Congress and was signed by Pres
ident Biden in mid-August. Not surprisingly,
Manchin’s support came at a cost: major con-
Continued page page 22
20 SEPTEMBER 2022 | REPORTER NEWSPAPERS
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