Editor’s note: The authors are referring to Article 42 at Town Meeting on March 28. The complete Town Meeting warrant can be found here.
To the editor:
Global warming, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels and the resulting increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, is a serious threat to current and future generations in Lincoln and around the world. Already global warming is causing costly disruption of human and natural systems throughout the world, for example. The effects of global warming will further intensify with increased temperatures such that almost all governments in the world, including that of the United States, have agreed (through the 2009 Copenhagen Accord) that any warming above a 2º C. (3.6º F.) rise would be unsafe for human habitation. Scientists estimate that humans can emit only approximately 565 more gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and still retain a reasonable hope of not exceeding 2º C. of (additional) global warming.
Proven coal, oil and gas reserves counted as assets of fossil fuel companies equal roughly 2,795 gigatons of CO2, or five times the maximum amount that can safely be released to prevent more than 2º C. temperature increase from global warming. However, fossil fuel companies continue to explore for even more fossil fuel deposits that cannot be burned without rendering Earth unfit for human habitation.
We believe that the town of Lincoln has a moral duty to do what it can to protect the lives and livelihoods of its inhabitants and of people around the world from the threat of global warming and believe that its investments should support a future without the catastrophic impacts of a warming environment. The town of Lincoln has a duty to its employees and taxpayers to maintain the value of funds invested on their behalf and to avoid risky investments. Investments in fossil fuel companies could prove highly risky, given that 80 percent of their proven reserves could become “stranded” and unusable assets unless governments act to protect a habitable climate.
Adopting this article at Town Meeting (Lincoln would become one of many Massachusetts towns which have already passed comparable resolutions) builds on the currently accepted observations that supporting technologies such as solar, wind, power storage, business models for new energy systems, and new methods of energy distribution promise important and alternative technologies for the future. These achievements have contributed to the decision by The Rockefeller Foundation, the charitable institution started by the founders of Standard Oil and Exxon Mobil to divest all their holdings related to fossil fuels.
Sincerely,
John Terrell and Al Schmertzler
Lincoln
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.
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