Devastation of climate change

An out-of-control wildfire is burning near Yosemite National Park. Maybe it’s easy to get numb to news like this among the many other disturbing stories each day. And so far, we have been able to ultimately contain drastic wildfires in the American West, albeit at dreadful costs.

But what will happen when we get one that is beyond our power to tame? Will it still be OK to shrug off climate change as something bad that happens “elsewhere” and “someday”?

Climate change devastation is real and concrete to regular folks right here and right now. While visiting our son in Northern California recently, my husband and I met a local woman who had lost her home and everything else in the Carr Fire of 2018. While she was lucky to be able to move in with her daughter afterward, she still has not been able to recover financially enough to live on her own again. And this poor woman is just one person among the countless victims of climate disasters.

What will it take to get lawmakers in Congress to act on climate? We owe it to our own citizens and the rest of the world to fulfill our country’s promise to lower carbon emissions.

Please be part of that promise and contact U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin and your House representative to tell them we need action right now.