“Whatever your cause, whether gun control or marriage equality, or something else, nothing will work out well if we don’t have a livable planet.” That’s the belief of Roger Streit, of West Orange, who will head to Washington D.C. later this week as part of a coalition of New Jersey volunteers with Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL). “Although many people talk about doing something to limit climate change for ‘our grandchildren’ I’m not so sure that it will take that long for many of the bad effects to be seen.”
Members of the newly formed Montclair chapter of CCL will join hundreds of others in the nation’s capitol to urge Congress to push for effective legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They will attend individual meetings with Representatives Rodney Frelinghuysen and Donald Payne, Jr. or their aides, and hope to meet with other Representatives as well.
Streit, who lived in Montclair for 25 years before moving to West Orange, jumped into an advocacy role when the local CCL group held its first meeting just weeks ago. He and CCL member Margaret Babcock, of Rockaway Township, will attend the Citizens Climate Lobby’s Fourth International Conference, where renowned climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, who recently retired from NASA to devote more time to advocacy on the climate issue, will be the keynote speaker.
Streit, who operates Key Financial Solutions in Roseland, said that, “Going to Washington is an investment worth making.”
The Montclair CCL group is led by Montclair resident David Korfhage, a history teacher at Montclair Kimberley Academy’s Upper School, who’s had a long-standing interest in environmental affairs. “I camp and hike and love the outdoors and I have two kids and want to make sure I leave a world to them that’s livable and not suffering the ill effects of climate change,” he explains.
“We’re already seeing the impact of chaotic weather caused by climate change here in New Jersey,” said Korfhage. “Last year was the hottest year on record in the United States. Sea level rise and Superstorm Sandy are only two of the signs of climate change that have hit the Garden State. We’ve had a little over one degree of warming. Imagine what things will be like if we allow six or seven degrees of warming.”
In D.C., Streit and Babcock will be seeking to enroll Congressional support for a revenue-neutral carbon tax that gives proceeds back to households.
“We want our senators and congressmen to get behind this solution. It uses the power of the free market to transition us away from fossil fuels and toward clean sources of energy like solar and wind,” said Korfhage.
Streit acknowledges that part of the challenge is that some people are still unsure of the existence of a climate change problem. “Hurricane Sandy may not have been caused by climate change, but we do know that having warmer air and warmer water increases the strength of storms,” he said.
New to social change advocacy, Streit may have been predestined to choose this particular call to action. “When my granddaughter was born in 2005, my daughter asked us to write a letter that she’d open when she’s 18 years old,” Streit explains. “In that letter I wrote about climate change, saying I hoped my generation would have dealt with it by then.”
Getting involved with CCL appealed to him because the organization offers strong national support, but is essentially community-based. He liked their strategy of building grassroots support and citizen-led leadership, then leaning on politicians to follow what constituents want.
“I speak free market economics as a second language, and the idea of a carbon tax with a rebate to citizens can be very attractive to enough people on both sides of the aisle that it has a chance of being passed,” he believes.
The Montclair CCL chapter is one of three in New Jersey, joining other groups in Lincroft and Princeton. There are about 90 community-based CCL chapters throughout the U.S. and Canada. Information about upcoming local meetings is available by emailing montclair@citizensclimatelobby.org.
It is time we cross political divides and work together to reduce our consumption of natural resources. We need to find ways as a nation to switch to renewal energy resources that are more efficient and less environmentally damaging. The CCL bus ride is one worth taking.
If these folks are truly serious about their claimed intentions, they really should consider a protest trip to China. ASAP, too.
I’m sure former Mayor Fried could arrange a trip to China.
Cathar. Pollution coming out of China is a big concern. But they are investing heavily in renewables, $65 billion in to our $35 billion. We risk losing out on jobs, profits, and production of renewable energy hardware to China. We should move away from fossil fuels as fast as we can.
Actually, China is one step ahead of us–they’re already moving to limit greenhouse gases.
In any case, the US still produces a large percentage of CO2 emissions. We can put a big dent in the problem just by ourselves. And that doesn’t even count the inspiration to others that might come when the biggest climate change obstacle, the US, becomes part of the solution not part of the problem.
It is sad to see the responses here to such a serious issue. The blame game will not work, however. We all are in this and we all have our responsibilities.
Cathar should be congratulated however for being such a good neighbor. S/he will fix the neighbor’s leaking roof before her/his own. How magnanimous. The only problem is that this is one roof we all share and the best (and perhaps only) way to get the job done is for each to do his or her own bit.
So while Cathar is off in China lecturing others on their responsibility, I am pleased that CCL is doing what needs doing at home.
idratherbe…, you simply sound appallingly self-righteous. China is a horrorshow in so many ways.(Hints: don’t drink the water there, or eat butchered meat, either, especially in the north.)
And savvyroger, you can start by reducing your own fossil dependence. I’ll gladly give you 20 years of a head start. Stop driving your car, for example. How are you getting to Washington later this week, come to think of it? Via electric (from, I’d bet, coal-fired generating systems) train? By diesel? By airplane using aviation fuel?