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My children and I discovered about climate change while I was sleeping in one morning. I will never be the exact same.
CaryMarch 8, 2022Ritzler | March 8, 2022
| Climate Change, Energy Justice, Georgia
In second grade science class, I was introduced to climate change. Although I didn’t deny any of the science, even as a teenager, I continued to ignore the truth of it. I ignored any frightening thoughts that popped up. I scrolled past any scary headlines that appeared. I lived with a constant, mild sense of dread. However, I never really faced the facts until my children forced it on Saturday eight years ago.
My boys, aged 7 and 4, woke up before dawn, just like they have always done. I told them, as with most weekends mornings, to go downstairs and put on a show. “Make it a nature show!”I hollered at my older brother. “You know, something educational.”I went back into sleep.
I finally got downstairs about an hour later. They were seated side-by-side, staring wide-eyed at my TV screen when I said good day.
“Mama!” said my seven year old, breathless and scared, “Something terrible is happening!”
My four year old started to cry, “The ice is melting!”
They had put on a show that featured orcas, one their favorite animals. This show was about orcas and their dangerous narwhals, as they were moving further into the Arctic. Scientists stood in front of a dripping iceberg, explaining their research as well as their ominous predictions.
It’s hard to deal with an existential crisis before coffee, but I did my best. I took my four-year old son to the freezer to show him ice that had not melted. The older child was not fooled by my irrational actions. I had always been able to explain every truth to him, even the difficult ones. I had explained to him how seeds grow and how diseases kill. They expect you to tell your children the truth from the beginning. I made him breakfast and explained to him that almost everything we have or did was created, delivered and lit up by fossil fuels. When those fuels burn to generate electricity or spark an engine, a colorless and odorless gas rises into the atmosphere and hangs like a blanket.
I explained it in the same way that I heard it first as a child: “You’ve been in a car that’s been sitting in the sun, right? You know how it’s so much hotter inside than out? The heat is trapped; it can’t escape. That’s what is happening, but to the whole planet.”
“Well, then why are we using fossil fuels? Why don’t we stop? We have to stop, right?”He asked. My four-year old son started to turn off the lights.
How can you explain to a child, that adults know that the entire world is one? His worldIs. Like a house on fire, and that they know why it’s burning, and that many of them have known for decades, but they are not running for water? He thought no one had heard because, surely, if they knew…
I spent the rest day talking to him about possible solutions for our family. We could walk to school. We could grow tomatoes outside and take cloth bags to school. These were not enough, as I knew. Since the 1980s, I had been reducing and reusing and recycling. I could only see the dire predictions getting worse.
My boys jolted my denial that morning and forced me to face the truth of what I had known all along. They were right. This is a terrible situation! This is an emergency! This is an emergency! We must act now! I told my kids that as a grownup, it was my job to take care of them. That caring for them meant taking care of the planet.
That day set me on the path that I am still on. I wanted to know what it was like to be a teacher. WouldI started reading, listening, talking to people to see if we could all do something together to address the crisis.
I learned that many of the most effective climate solutions also have side benefits such as cleaner air, better education, and low-income housing. I discovered that racism and climate change are so closely connected that you can pursue solutions that address both. However, if you don’t address them together, the same problems will continue to plague you. I discovered that the following: The majority of Americans believe in climate change and support policies that address it.. I learned that I could be bold and persistent in taking action against the fear and dread I had felt for years. I was hiding from the truth.
I was also shocked to learn that a few powerful people were at work throughout my life to impede progress, capture politicians, confuse the public, and delay action in the 1980s 1990s and early 2000s, when there was ample time for change.
I discovered that even though it’s late, there is still plenty of time to save much. It only takes one.A small percentage of the populationThey can make history change if they unite and work together. This was the story about democracy, colonial rule and breaking apartheid, and the story that led to the civil rights movement. This could also be the story about the climate age.
I am thrilled to join SACE at the perfect moment to help catalyze this movement within my home state of Georgia. Along with many other individuals and organizations in the state, we are ready to stand with our neighbors and demand a fair and equitable transition towards clean and renewable energy. Georgia changed the tide in 2020 by electing climate-conscious candidates. Although the status quo forces still exist, the people have the power.
As President Obama said, “We are.” The first generation to feel the impacts of climate change and the last to do anything about it.. It is important that we stand together against those who are preventing progress towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy economy. We can raise awareness about the needs of the most vulnerable in our society and all over the globe and call for a JustTo ensure a more equitable and just future for all, we must transition. We can tell our leaders at every level of government, from the town hall to the White House, to place climate–which is central to our very survival–at the center of the agenda. Every single action can make a difference. It could be as simple as signing a petition, sending email, calling or making a call.
Working together has so many benefits: stronger communities and more responsive leaders, as well as a livable future that is both for us and our children. This is what we owe to ourselves and to the children of 2022 who don’t have the time or patience to wait.
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