With their breakfast combos pushed aside, Des Pair and Hope Less huddled over the morning paper. “Sez here,” Des moaned, “southern Wisconsin is part of the coming ‘extreme heat belt’ running through the whole mid-section of the country. In the next 30 years the number of heat-index (temperature and humidity combined) days over 100 degrees will likely double. Some heat index days will go as high as 125 degrees!” “Lordy, how will we ever survive?” Hope sighed.
From behind the counter, Mo spotted the grumbling gals and decided it was time to re-fill their coffee cups. Seeing the newspaper sprawled across the table, “It don’t look good, eh ladies?” she asked. Then she flipped to a second article. “But take a look at this!” Mo exclaimed with her usual sunny enthusiasm.
The article laid out how ordinary citizens – you and me – can take advantage of many of the provisions of the newly passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to help stabilize the climate. It extends tax credits for installing energy-efficient windows, doors, insulation, water heaters, furnaces, air conditioners or heat pumps, as well as for home energy audits. It also offers rebates for low and moderate-income households’ efficiency improvements, up to $14,000 per home and provides a 30% tax credit for rooftop solar and geothermal heating.*
“We don’t have to sit here wishing the problem would go away. We can be part of the solution,” Mo encouraged. Then, glancing up at the door – “Hey, Wade Aminit! You’re part of this too,” Mo called to Wade, a diner regular and prominent farmer in the township.
Mo slide the paper to Wade as he settled into the booth. “Look! Farmers across the country are practicing ‘natural climate solutions’ that draw in and hold heat-trapping CO2 in the soil. They’re planting cover crops, using minimal or no-till planting strategies, converting to perennial crops and pasturing with rotational grazing practices.”
Then flipping to the back page, they saw an update on two major pieces of climate-stabilizing legislation California recently passed. As the fifth largest economy in the world, these provisions may be as significant as the IRA in addressing climate change.
“Could these be signs of a virtuous climate-stabilizing cycle?” Mo Menteum mused. “Surely, together we CAN wisely care for this, our only home, where we’re all forever…Earthbound.”
*The Conversation on-line journal
From behind the counter, Mo spotted the grumbling gals and decided it was time to re-fill their coffee cups. Seeing the newspaper sprawled across the table, “It don’t look good, eh ladies?” she asked. Then she flipped to a second article. “But take a look at this!” Mo exclaimed with her usual sunny enthusiasm.
The article laid out how ordinary citizens – you and me – can take advantage of many of the provisions of the newly passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to help stabilize the climate. It extends tax credits for installing energy-efficient windows, doors, insulation, water heaters, furnaces, air conditioners or heat pumps, as well as for home energy audits. It also offers rebates for low and moderate-income households’ efficiency improvements, up to $14,000 per home and provides a 30% tax credit for rooftop solar and geothermal heating.*
“We don’t have to sit here wishing the problem would go away. We can be part of the solution,” Mo encouraged. Then, glancing up at the door – “Hey, Wade Aminit! You’re part of this too,” Mo called to Wade, a diner regular and prominent farmer in the township.
Mo slide the paper to Wade as he settled into the booth. “Look! Farmers across the country are practicing ‘natural climate solutions’ that draw in and hold heat-trapping CO2 in the soil. They’re planting cover crops, using minimal or no-till planting strategies, converting to perennial crops and pasturing with rotational grazing practices.”
Then flipping to the back page, they saw an update on two major pieces of climate-stabilizing legislation California recently passed. As the fifth largest economy in the world, these provisions may be as significant as the IRA in addressing climate change.
“Could these be signs of a virtuous climate-stabilizing cycle?” Mo Menteum mused. “Surely, together we CAN wisely care for this, our only home, where we’re all forever…Earthbound.”
*The Conversation on-line journal
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