Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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The images and stories on the front page of Wednesday's Star Tribune could not be more apocalyptic ("Europe broils in torment"). Europe is on fire across the continent, with homes destroyed in Spain, near Athens and in England. Beachgoers in France are shadowed by looming clouds of black smoke. High temperatures ranged from 103 to 117 degrees across the continent. Sadly, even here in Minneapolis, people are struggling to escape the persistent heat and humidity.

Even in more conservative states like Indiana, some 80% of residents believe the basic facts about climate change. Nevertheless, Congress has been unable to pass the necessary national responses to the heating world because a small but critical number of senators are willfully blind to the emergency. In the face of the congressional failure to act, I am asking our state and local officials to take what action they can to protect our communities. Reducing local emissions, making electrical grid improvements, supporting transit so that people can leave their cars at home, providing more EV charging options, and rapidly adding more renewable energy resources are actions communities and states can take.

However, an effective national response is urgently needed. The U.S. should be leading this global effort, but it is not. I read yesterday that Canadians are receiving climate dividend payments from a carbon tax the Canadian government enacted. I am confident that U.S. residents would welcome a similar plan. The transition to renewable energy on the large scale required is not happening fast enough because fossil fuels are still too cheap, relative to the damage they are doing, and to the cost of transitioning to safe renewables. Taxing fossil fuels and using the revenue to protect vulnerable American households is the most effective first step Congress could take.

Sen. Joe Manchin has blocked Democratic action in the Senate, but we have seen zero support for significant climate action from Republican senators. We can all help the process by keeping up pressure, with letters and contacts with all of our senators and representatives, and especially those who are Republicans. Worldwide, we all feel the heat, and so should they.

Laura Haule, Minneapolis

The front-page article in the July 18 paper, "As the planet cooks, climate stalls as a political issue," prompts me to call on my fellow citizens to take part in an action. Our government seems too mired in politics to put climate change at the top of the list, to lead instead of stall. That doesn't mean we have to wait. Here's what I'm asking: That we take it upon ourselves to end the use of single-use plastic containers. It's a small action, but a doable one. One place to start is to write and talk to companies whose products and services we use and let them know we expect them to take this measure — and we expect to hear back. Another is to buy from companies that are already doing this. I recently traveled to Canada in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia; one is hard pressed to find non-biodegradable plastic anywhere. Ditto for the Netherlands.

As consumers we all vote with our pocketbooks and our actions. As citizens concerned about this planet, I'm asking that we take the lead in every way that we can.

Diane Amer, Roseville

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It's no surprise that Sen. Joe Manchin has once again tanked climate legislation (along with every single Senate Republican). Manchin claims he wants to see July's inflation numbers and the Federal Reserve interest rates before deciding what clean-energy programs and tax changes he could support in the budget reconciliation bill, but this is just another ruse from a man who has made millions from a coal brokerage business he founded (Enersystems Inc.). After years of excuses, it's clear Manchin will never vote against his pocketbook regardless of which party he caucuses with.

The solution: Climate change legislation for cutting emissions and transitioning to clean energy should be introduced as its own bill rather than part of a grab-bag reconciliation bill where it's easy to claim objection to something else in the hodgepodge. With a stand-alone bill, voters will know who votes against it and can hold them accountable.

Laurie Stangl, Minneapolis

A letter writer from July 5 places the blame for our current fuel prices on President Joe Biden's lack of support for drilling ("Biden's fault, not Putin's"), but funnily enough, the number of operating wells in the U.S. went down from 2014 through 2020 (including the four years of the previous lease-happy presidency). This was due primarily to dropping oil prices. It's not worth it for companies to invest in new drilling if they aren't getting enough for crude oil. What about new refineries? Those built in the U.S. during former President Barack Obama's last four years — five. During 2017-2020 — one.

In terms of "fuel prices began increasing significantly long before Russia invaded Ukraine," check the trend carefully. In December 2019 crude oil was at around $63, and in December 2021 it was around $73 (still below the peak of October 2018). This was after a pandemic when demand dropped precipitously. The abrupt rise came after the invasion and subsequent sanctions. As for Biden's "weak foreign policy," I have to wonder if the writer's gotten his presidents mixed up: Who was it who pretty much denigrated NATO at every possible turn and kowtowed to Russian President Vladimir Putin whenever he could? Hmm.

Perhaps instead of getting bogged down with which politician got us these high gas prices (and historically, presidents have very little control over them), we should take this opportunity to continue the effort to reduce consumption and transition to energy that is less dependent on the global market and geopolitical events.

There's plenty to be concerned about these days: COVID, climate change, the war in Ukraine, wildfires in the West, inflation, lopsided Supreme Court decisions, the latest revelations at the Jan. 6 committee hearings. So it was particularly uplifting to run across this message scrawled on the railing of a footbridge at Gooseberry Falls State Park: "Everything will be okay."

I suspect it was written by a young person. Who else would have such unbridled optimism? Who else would try to bring a little cheer to all the jaded, polarized cynics of the world?

Of course, you might be thinking, "It was easy for the anonymous person to feel upbeat while standing at the base of sparkling waterfalls on a pristine Minnesota day." Perhaps. Still, I'm grateful for the writer of this graffiti. I feel a little better knowing this person is out there, sprinkling random acts of kindness like fairy dust, and that just maybe, he or she is right. Everything will be OK.