The never ceasing debate surrounding global warming and its effect is one of the most pressing issues facing our generation and more importantly the future of our planet.
Hey, thanks for reading! I’m the Horizon’s new Editor-in-Chief, Alex Moreno. I’m from Tacoma, Washington and have now attended Whatcom and lived in Bellingham for two years.
This is my first experience with the Horizon student newspaper, beyond picking it up for an occasional read, and here goes my first Letter From the Editor and release of the Horizon.
I’m a ski-bum, so I’ll be editor for the next three issues until winter quarter starts, and the snow starts falling and the mountains start calling. Hopefully I’ll be able to leave the Horizon stronger and in the hands of an attentive staff, as all of us here are learning quickly. The Horizon is breaking ground this year with only two returning journalism students and seven members in total to produce the newspaper.
As a snow enthusiast, global warming and protecting our environment are subjects that I care passionately about. In all honesty, I’m not as aware, active, or educated on the subject as I could and should be. Although, I refuse to turn a blind eye to an apparent danger.
Despite the current frenzy of the presidential election and debates, conversations about climate change matter now more than ever.
The candidates flooding the media and consuming the attention of America and the world are Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. Throughout the debates, topics such as Clinton’s email scandal and Trump’s possible tax evasion have overwhelmed news sources while important environmental issues are seemingly ignored.
The U.S. under the Obama administration, as well as the rest of the world, has taken monumental strides to combat climate change and the related weather extremes.
Climate change is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “A change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.”
The NASA Global Climate Change site explains that throughout 37 years of monthly rankings, examining the rapid melt of sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic, there has not been a year surpassing the established record highs of glacier ice in 1986, yet there has been 75 new monthly lows since.
To prevent further warming people around the world have taken steps to minimize humanity’s impact on the environment. For example, The Paris Climate Agreement signed in Dec. of 2016 involves 195 nations whose governments have voluntarily created plans to lower emissions.
The Clean Power Plan proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency in June of 2014 is the first national limit set on carbon pollution produced by power plants in the U.S.
Clinton has not hesitated to express her plans concerning climate change and environmental issues. During a campaign speech by Secretary Clinton in June of 2015, Clinton said, “Ask many of these candidates about climate change, one of the defining threats of our time, and they’ll say: ‘I’m not a scientist.’ Well, then, why don’t they start listening to those who are?”
In a speech to the North Dakota Petroleum Council, during May 2016, Trump spoke about the Paris Climate Agreement.
“President Obama entered the United States into the Paris Climate Accords – unilaterally, and without the permission of Congress. This agreement gives foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use right here in America. These actions have denied millions of Americans access to the energy wealth sitting under our feet,” said Trump.
Think about what you can try to change to help preserve the beautiful earth we share. Try riding your bike, carpooling, or taking the bus. Climate change is, as Pope Francis claimed during a speech at the White House, “a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation.”
