I enjoyed your feature article about Capitola’s Women on Waves (“Surf’s Uplifting,” GT, 9/29) and felt proud to live in a place where women are taking the initiative, using their voices and creating an event that benefits women all over the world and at the same time fosters ocean conservation. I couldn’t help but think about one reason we could host such a surf competition here is because our beaches are not contaminated with oil like they are in Southern California. We can thank our predecessors for keeping oil rigs out of the beautiful Monterey Bay, but now it’s our turn to take action to prevent more dire consequences from our use of fossil fuels. Economists and scientists agree that we need to charge fossil fuel companies a fee on the oil and gas they take out of the ground to cover the damage those products do to our environment. Using that money to give a dividend back to people will help with the expense of the transition to cleaner sources of power. This carbon fee and dividend approach is finally getting traction in Congress, so this is the time to call and write our representatives, senators and the president to express our support and to encourage them to include this strategy in the reconciliation bill they’re creating right now.
Donna Ramos
Santa Cruz
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