Editor:

Sunset residents have debated back and forth in these pages about whether the Upper Great Highway closure is good or bad for climate change, but the truth is that it will hardly move the needle either way.

Californians are still set to face billions in climate costs in the years ahead. From the health-related costs associated with breathing wildfire smoke to large increases in homeowner’s insurance rates, we’re paying for the climate crisis with our health, our wallets, and our children’s futures.

A Polluters Pay Climate Superfund bill has been introduced in the California state legislature that would require major fossil fuel companies to pay their fair share of these climate costs, but Assemblymember Catherine Stefani has not yet stepped up to support it. I hope she will have the courage to join her fellow state legislators from San Francisco – Assemblymember Haney and Senator Wiener – in supporting this bill to protect our communities from the climate crisis.

Elizabeth Fong, Parkside resident