Wants smarter use of energy

Bellingham’s recent climate march was a step toward a clean, sustainable atmosphere.

I’m a U.S. military veteran who served on a polar icebreaker for three deployments in the 1970s, one being a summer patrol to the Arctic. We monitored Soviet navy vessel movements north of Siberia and we also broke a path through the ice north of Alaska for the supply ships bringing equipment to the developing North Slope oil fields. In many locations, we drew upon decades of prior Arctic ice-breaking experience by the Coast Guard to help us.

So I have distinct memories of the Arctic ice back then and as it was previously, but in the meantime the Arctic has changed dramatically and is now a much different place than in my early adulthood. That fast. And this change has been verified by industry, which sees a melted Arctic as an opportunity for the easier transport of goods.

My own experience and other credible evidence have convinced me about the reality of climate change. And the rapidness of the change tells me that it is not from natural reasons, but instead from recent human activities. All of us will be affected because the earth’s atmosphere is a closed system; what happens in the Arctic affects the rest of the planet.

I was glad for the climate march. We need to act now with the smarter use of our energy, including renewables, for a sustainable future for our kids and grandkids.

This story was originally published December 9, 2015 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Wants smarter use of energy."