One of our best grassroots tools for generating political will continues to be getting letters to the editor published in newspapers and other publication throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Just before our November national call, we reached an amazing milestone: The 1000th letter to the editor published for the year. We recognize this accomplishment with the first “Judy Weiss Letter to the Editor Award.” Why the Judy Weiss Award? Judy — Rabbi Weiss, as she is known in Brockton, MA — is CCL’s most prolific letter writer, getting published in scores of newspapers throughout the country.

So, it is our pleasure to announce that our 1,000th letter to the editor for 2013, winner of the Judy Weiss Letter to the Editor Award, was written by Kermit Hovey (seen below) of the Madison, Wisconsin, CCL chapter.

Here’s Kermit’s letter, which was published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Nov. 1:

In the wake of Sandy

On Oct. 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy bulldozed its way across the United States’ northeast Atlantic coast leaving billions of dollars of devastation behind and millions of disrupted lives.

Did we answer the challenge this meteorological monster posed? To the immediate crisis, yes with aid and assistance. To the long-term underlying factors, no. Regrettably, even widespread recognition of the significant human contribution to this climatological calamity fell short of silencing partisan bickering sufficiently to pave the way for decisive bipartisan action.

Of course, no one weather event has one cause. Yet massive tragedies such as Superstorm Sandy loom larger and more likely on the horizon. Greenhouse gases from fossil fuels increase planetary heat energy. That heat drives higher power extreme events and disrupts the congenial climate we humans have thrived in for thousands of years.

Middleton

WEB LINK: http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/your-views-b99131057z1-230136501.html#ixzz2jSukBMGw