We can innovate to meet climate change challenge
Summer was strange this year. Some of what we experienced took the shine off an idyllic time of year.
My family, which includes a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old, signed up to go to Family Camp at Rancho El Chaparral Girl Scout Camp, but the weekend was canceled because of fire dangers.
We transferred up to the camp at Angel Fire and enjoyed a lovely weekend, but as we were driving away the air filled with smoke from the fires in Colorado.
We headed out to my family reunion at a state park in upstate New York and were reminded at sign-in to do daily tick checks — we were in a hotspot for Lyme disease, which has increased and spread with global warming.
Our flights in both directions were canceled because of serious thunderstorms up and down the East Coast.
We came home to damage from golf ballsized hail not just to our roof but the interior of our house and remain at a rental until we can finish repairs.
Strung together, these issues demonstrate that climate change isn’t some future threat but is happening now and affecting communities and costing us all.
But like many moms, when faced with a challenge, I see the solutions and exciting opportunities to innovate. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller has signed on to the Mayors’ Paris Agreement and is crafting a plan to reduce Albuquerque’s climate impact. State legislation is being drafted to increase the renewable energy that utilities like PNM use to generate power. Strangely, people think we use much more renewables in New Mexico than we actually do. Most of the electricity we use to power our homes comes from coal-fired and nuclear power plants, and as utilities transition away from these energy sources, we have to choose whether to continue using dirty fracked gas or the sun and wind.
As I watch my stepdaughter and son explore the world, I see them innovate every day. Where they can’t reach something they want, anything becomes a stool. Where they face a challenge alone, they look for friends to come up with solutions. I say, let’s take the lead from the kids.
Today, people across the globe will gather at rallies to take the first step on action toward curbing global climate change. Please bring your families and friends to the People’s Climate March in Albuquerque. We will gather at 9 this morning at Fourth Street and Bridge and walk together over the river, remembering the impacts of climate change on this essential resource. We’ll end up at Dolores Huerta Gateway Park, where there’s a Climate-Action Fair. Come talk to political candidates from all parties to find out what their plans are on climate change. Register to vote. Learn how to act on these issues. We are not alone in these great challenges we face. We must innovate and collaborate, and we will.