Letters to the Editor: Changing a past climate report doesn’t move us forward in any way

To the editor: This article is yet another example of attacks on science and the denial of the dangers of human-caused climate change from the Trump administration (“Trump administration wants to revise the latest National Climate Assessment — three years after publication,” Sept. 10). Going back to an assessment that reflected the science at the time does nothing to advance our knowledge.

The 2023 assessment included worse-case scenarios that painted a picture of what the world would look like if we continued to develop a heavy reliance on fossil fuels. A new assessment, due next year, will likely not include those scenarios because the world has moved forward (no thanks to this administration), embracing renewable energy and taking other policy steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It’s sad that the federal government isn’t leading the way in these reductions. But at least there are states like Texas, California, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and others that are generating significant amounts of power from wind and solar.

What we could use now are reforms to permitting, allowing delayed projects to move ahead. And putting a price on emissions would put the cost of the damage those emissions have been doing for decades where it belongs: with the fossil fuel industries that have knowingly been harming our health and that of our planet.

Changing a past report will do nothing to help us or our children and grandchildren. We should vote for representatives who will look forward and support science.

Maggie Wineburgh-Freed, Los Angeles