Strike back against climate change

5

To the Editor:

The IPCC has declared that we have 10 years to cut carbon emissions in half, thereby assuring a livable planet for the next generations. Though the president insists it is a hoax, our Vineyard community is already experiencing, firsthand, the impacts of climate change. We know it is happening and that it is accelerating. We the people must act, together, in spite of the current power structure’s unwillingness to acknowledge and address this crisis. We must forge ahead with or without the support of our federal government by acting on a local and state level and by electing leadership up and down the ballot with the vision and commitment to enact a swift sea change. 

A Global Climate Strike takes place this Friday, Sept. 20. Young people all across the globe will be demanding urgent action from their governments. For those who can travel to Boston, there will be a Global Climate Strike at City Hall Plaza from 10 am to 1:30 pm. Here on the Island, numerous actions will be taking place for people to join. Go to islandclimateaction.org for a list of events on the Vineyard.

Let’s all step up to support our youth’s call for action as they walk out of their schools and universities. (NYC public schools have sanctioned an excused absentee policy for this day for any student with parental permission who wants to participate in the Climate Strike.) Take an hour of your time on Friday to join a public action to show solidarity and a willingness to fight with young people for their livable future on this planet.

Ann Rosenkranz
Vineyard Haven

5 COMMENTS

  1. I think you should be careful quoting the IPCC 10 year warning. “Climate deniers” as you might call them would reference about 5 decades of failed predictions and warnings about ice ages, flooding, nations disappearing, etc that should have already happened. I believe these very inflated and crying wolf statements continue to discredit any future predictions that are being advertised, like in this letter. Furthermore the hypocrisy of using fossil fueled transportation to go to a city or meeting point for the sole purpose of holding a sign, and maybe getting a few extra Instagram followers seems a bit foolish.

    • whale oil– The Ipcc was first formed in 1988– 31 years ago– hardly 5 decades.. Your assertion that they predicted all the things you say is an untruth..
      Using a few gallons of gas to possibly enact political change that may prevent the burning of billions of gallons seems like a reasonable investment.

  2. I would like to clarify what the “10 years” warning means.
    What it doesn’t mean is that we will all be dead and the world’s coastal cities will be under water.
    What it means is that somewhere in the near future perhaps 5, perhaps 10 , perhaps 15 years from now, the situation will become much more uncontrollable. I liken it to ignoring a colon cancer diagnosis.
    Most colon cancers are very slow growing, and caught is the early stages , there are quite curable. However, if you ignore it for a few years, it will eventually get to the point where it is virtually un treatable. You may not be dead in a few years, but the situation could be terminal by then.
    We are clearly seeing the consequences of climate change today. While no singular event is proof in and of itself, there is a distinct trend of a rapidly warming planet. There are more intense and longer duration heat waves, more intense storms , heavier rainfall events, more severe droughts, extended wildfire seasons, sea level rise, and yes, even larger and more severe blizzards around the world. All accurately predicted by the scientific community years ago. Yes, there were some “alarmist” that predicted things would happen more quickly than the mainstream scientific community. There have been predictions on both sides of the climate debate that have been wrong.
    But the fact is the historical consensus of the scientific community has underestimated the time frame.
    But time frames aside, if you look at the big picture, it really doesn’t matter if we kill ourselves off in 100 or 500 years. Yes, we as individuals will all be gone, but really, do we want to be the cause of the extinction of sapiens? Or at the least, the destruction of civilization for a few thrill rides in a cigarette boat, or the luxury of a select few to fly around the world in private jets ?
    And yes, that steak is a problem .

  3. Missing the point. I’m not talking about historic IPCC predictions, I’m talking about the collective climate alarmists who have done more to harm your “cause” then to have helped. The media keeps on printing it, people keep regurgitating it and the models or predictions do not materialize. Maybe the IPCC is correct, however it’s difficult to take these predictions seriously when we’ve been told doomsday is coming so many times over and it never has . More people or deniers would be onboard or interested in this activism if the false fear mongering was wrangled a bit more in reality, or if they could get a prediction right, as opposed to the hyperbole above.

    • I think what you’re saying is that the dire consequences of climate change haven’t impacted you personally. Which events in our changing world would convince you that climate change is real and man made? How about 3 billion fewer birds in last 50 years? Or that the Florida Keys is experiencing America’s first climate driven exodus? Seen any monarch butterflies lately? What kind of news is stunning enough to “alarm” you, even if you don’t feel it in your life?

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