Recently I was reading the June/July edition of AARP Magazine – yes, I qualify for that moniker! An article on superfoods, and another on flavoring water as a refreshing summer bevvie. Pretty typical fare for “seasoned” citizens. And then I began reading “Washed Away,” an article about higher sea levels and how older people are losing their homes.
As an active climate advocate, I was not surprised by the article. But I was struck by the very personal nature of these stories – people who invested their entire savings in their retirement homes, only to have them destroyed by flooding. That was a simple sentence – not too dramatic, and short on details. But the key here is that these are people – our grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles. This is not something that is happening to other people – it is happening to us.
Montana’s climate challenges often take different forms than flooding – fire, drought, impacts on employees and businesses that count on tourism. I bet you know someone who can give you a deeply personal account of how the climate is affecting them. We can pretend it is someone else’s problem, or we can call on all those who are running for office this season to have a viable plan to address heat-trapping pollution. Ask them: if it was your grandmother living in a car because her home was destroyed, would you fold your hands or would you get out from behind your desk and get to work?
Angie Winter, co-leader
Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Flathead Valley Chapter