The Columbian’s editorial board recommends that voters closely examine Initiative 732 before casting a ballot. If they do, voters will see that the arguments put forth by the editorial board against I-732 are as unstable as Greenland’s melting ice sheets.
The climate science community is nearly unanimous in concluding that the planet is warming at an alarming rate as a result of human activity. Data suggests we have, at most, five years to begin a dramatic reversal of our carbon emissions trajectory before the harm becomes irreversible.
We’re already paying the price of inaction, but in a few years, our costs will skyrocket. Studies conducted by the University of Oregon found that after 2020 the effects of climate change will cost Washington state nearly $10 billion each year, unless mitigation efforts are taken.
