{"id":800778,"date":"2019-10-28T13:03:44","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T19:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=373695"},"modified":"2019-10-28T13:03:44","modified_gmt":"2019-10-28T19:03:44","slug":"letter-to-the-editor-recognizing-the-social-cost-of-carbon-starting-right-here-in-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/letter-to-the-editor-recognizing-the-social-cost-of-carbon-starting-right-here-in-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to the editor: Recognizing the social cost of carbon starting right here in Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/LettersWebCard-SDN1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>Carbon dioxide levels hit 415 parts per million this year,<br \/>\nthe most in human history, according to the Maua Loa Observatory in Hawaii.<\/p>\n<p>At higher levels, carbon dioxide can cause respiratory and<br \/>\nnervous system issues as it displaces oxygen in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>Increases in C02 can increase yields of crops like corn and<br \/>\nwheat, though more is not always better. According to a Jan. 23, 2018,<br \/>\nScientific American article, \u201crising CO2\u2019s effect on crops could also harm<br \/>\nhuman health.\u201d \u201cWe know unequivocally that when you grow food at elevated CO2<br \/>\nlevels in fields, it becomes less nutritious,\u201d notes Samuel Myers, principal<br \/>\nresearch scientist in environmental health at Harvard University.<\/p>\n<p>Higher average temperatures increase severe wildfire risk to<br \/>\nour forested watersheds that harm our water and recreation assets, adversely<br \/>\naffecting human health through pollutants and less outdoor activity.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s so injurious to human and economic health that there\u2019s<br \/>\nnow a social cost of carbon at roughly $50 per ton, a measure of the economic<br \/>\ndamages from emitting one ton of CO2 into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>The risks are high, and that is why I fully support local<br \/>\naction and scalable global solutions starting with High Country Conservation<br \/>\nCenter\u2019s Climate Action Plan adapted by Summit County and the towns of<br \/>\nBreckenridge, Frisco, Dillon and Silverthorne.<\/p>\n<p>Call the conservation center to schedule a home or business<br \/>\nenergy audit and learn about the solar programs available.<\/p>\n<p>Let policy makers know that the social cost of carbon should<br \/>\nbe considered in planning projects, particularly in the area of transportation,<br \/>\na leading emitter, and in forest health projects, as well.<\/p>\n<p>An investor can also have a major influence by lowering the<br \/>\ncarbon in their portfolio by sourcing greener alternatives.<\/p>\n<p>Our community wins by recognizing there is a cost to carbon.<br \/>\nTake each step starting with Summit County.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/opinion\/letter-to-the-editor-recognizing-the-social-cost-of-carbon-starting-right-here-in-summit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Carbon dioxide levels hit 415 parts per million this year, the most in human history, according to the Maua Loa Observatory in Hawaii. At higher levels, carbon dioxide can cause respiratory and nervous system issues as it displaces oxygen in the atmosphere. Increases in C02 can increase yields of crops like corn and wheat, though [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-800778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 15:39:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=800778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800778\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=800778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=800778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=800778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}