The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released a report that clearly summarizes our desperate situation: We are already feeling the effects of climate change and the heat waves, droughts and floods will only get worse unless we accelerate our transition away from oil, coal and gas.

Dear Members,

There is a lot going on as we move through these dog days of summer.

The League of Women Voters of Alachua County supported the Gainesville City Commission’s 2018 commitment to 100% renewable energy and its 2019 Proclamation of a Climate Emergency. League members, like others in the community, recognized the potential health, economic, quality of life, and social and environmental justice benefits of a rapid transition from fossil to renewable energy.

Whereas, an environmental condition adversely affecting Earth and its inhabitants once referred to as “climate change” has advanced to become a climate emergency including: