Letter: Keystone pipeline isn't the most urgent issue
Some of about 500 miles worth of coated steel pipe manufactured by Welspun Pipes, Inc., originally for the Keystone oil pipeline, is stored in Little Rock, Ark. Credit: AP, 2012
Thanks, Newsday, for reading my mind! "Environmentalists can move on to the climate change fights that really matter" instead of arguing about the Keystone XL oil pipeline ["The politics of Keystone," Editorial, Nov. 20].
The debate is tired. Opponents fail to admit that tar sands oil already enters our economy by rail.
The company Regional Economic Models briefed congressional staff recently, presenting a study that shows that a steadily rising fee on carbon, returned as a dividend to American households, would create millions of jobs as well as reduce emissions.
By focusing on the root of the problem instead of getting hung up on one specific project, we have a better chance of stopping climate change.
Ashley Hunt-Martorano, Medford
Editor's note: The writer is a volunteer co-leader of Citizens Climate Lobby Long Island, an advocacy group.
