I’m a mother fighting for my daughters future. When I first heard about the Climate Strike on September 20, there was no question that I would attend.
How could I not?
The fires in the Amazon rainforest are raging right now. Most were started by cattle ranchers and farmers who need room for grazing and crops. This is a crisis because the Amazon rainforest is the Earth’s largest carbon sink and is already taking up a third less carbon than it was a decade ago. That’s an amount of one billion tons of carbon dioxide, or twice the amount of the UK’s annual emissions.
So, how could I not?
Hurricanes are getting stronger and are producing more rain as the seas get warmer. Hurricane Dorian battered the Bahamas, leaving the Grand Bahama airport under six feet of water, and 70% of the Bahamas are underwater. Hurricane Maria was the third deadliest hurricane ever, taking the lives of almost 5,000 people.
So, how could I not?
Sea levels are rising as ice melts. Rising sea levels cause destructive flooding, displacement, and migration. Imagine thousands, maybe millions of people needing to resettle due to coastlines changing from rising sea levels. Recent search suggests that the collapse of the world’s ice sheet could uproot 200 million people.
So, how could I not?
This president and his administration are, among other things, rolling back environmental regulations, dismantling the EPA, declaring falsely that wind turbines cause cancer, and denying that climate change is even an issue.
So, how could I not?
I have a three-year-old daughter. She will only be 14 when we reach our 2030 deadline of making the necessary changes to curb climate change. Fourteen. Still a child.
She will only be 34 when we reach the 2050 goal many people have named for the US to reach carbon neutrality. That’s younger than I am now. What will her life be like? Will she want to have kids of her own? Will it be safe to? It might not be
So, how could I not?
I keep reading about young climate activists. Teens in high school, college students, etc. It makes sense that they are involved: they are fighting for their futures. But we are talking about the future of humanity, and older people, those who can, need to get more involved. Perhaps they, you, have young children or grandchildren, kids who will see the effects long after we are gone.
I am taking four hours of paid time off to attend the strike. This is a privilege, I realize. Not everyone can do that. But if you can, I encourage you to do so.
Thinking of all the points I’ve made above, how can I not be there, fighting for my daughter’s future?
