With the price of gas going up and down, brave Ukrainians defending their democracy, and climate change threatening droughts, fires and storms, I wonder what I can do to help. 

One way to help reduce the cost of gasoline is to use less of it by walking, biking, using mass transit (have you tried out the new electric bus No. 201 on Rehoboth Avenue?) and driving a fuel efficient or electric car. 

Every gallon of gas we do not use means less money in the pockets of dictators and petro-bullies like Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. 

Less fossil fuel being consumed means less conventional pollution, like smog and soot, as well as less global warming gases like carbon dioxide. Both kinds of pollution cause health damage, especially for our elderly, our kids and disadvantaged neighborhoods. 

A better way to phase out our addiction to fossil fuels is to put a fee on polluting energy sources and return those fees to all Americans in a program called carbon fee and dividend or carbon cash back. This idea will incentivize everyone, rich and poor, businesses and homes, to make the move to clean energy, like solar and wind, to power our lives. We need to contact our national and other leaders to support this policy. 

And if we want to help the victims of Russia’s war, we can donate to the International Rescue Committee at irc.org or the Ukrainian version called Razom, which means together, at razomforukraine.org. 

Slava Ukraini - Glory to Ukraine!