Thomas letter: Ski industry

Hi everybody. Let’s go through a fun exercise.

First, raise your hand if you think Idaho wouldn’t be as great of a state without its awesome skiing and snowboarding opportunities. Second, raise your hand if you’re worried about climate change negatively impacting our future. If you raised your hand for both questions, then I am in agreement with you. More importantly, though, the National Ski Areas Association is also in agreement with you.

Specifically, the national trade organization for ski owners/operators. which represents 313 alpine resorts that bring in over 90 percent of the skier/snowboarder visits nationwide, has recognized climate change as a key threat to the entire $7.3 billion U.S. ski industry (nsaa.org/environment/climate-change). Moreover, they’ve also endorsed the Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a revenue-neutral price on carbon, which is thought to be the most effective, economical, and transparent way to fight climate change (bit.ly/1W9x4EG).

If you want to help Idaho’s ski industry, whether or not you raised your hand for the first two questions, you can help. Call Congress on June 20, the day before hundreds of citizens meet with Congress about climate solutions (facebook.com/events/886547478141320/), and show your support.

This story was originally published May 30, 2016 at 10:26 PM with the headline "Thomas letter: Ski industry."