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Given the polarizing times we live in, it is comforting to see that Americans can still find common ground when it comes to protecting our nation — and planet.
A September 2021 PollYale and George Mason universities found that nearly two-thirds of Americans recognize climate changes as a national emergency. A majority support policies to encourage and transition towards a clean energy economy, and reduce industrial pollutants.
And we’ve actually got a plan for this, though it’s stalled in the Senate: The climate portion of Build Back Better.
“It’s not just environmental activists like me that want this,” said Helen Tai, a former Bucks County state representative and longtime local environmental advocate. “This is very popular and it’s a moral imperative.”
It’s true.
According to poll after poll, this is the truth. As fact, The Guardian reportedThe consensus that we face a climate crisis is growing in January is despite the fact that the number of climate deniers in the U.S. is declining. Shrinking like the arctic ice glaciers.
The truth is that climate change impacts everyone every day, regardless of political affiliation.
Molly Parzen, interim executive Director of Conservation Voters of PennsylvaniaAccording to, when people start asking questions about their desire for clean air for their children, clean drinking water, and lead-free pipes in their communities etc., it becomes less political and more common.
But we don’t have these things.
According to the United Health Foundation, Pennsylvania ranks number one. 47th in national air-quality. Furthermore, the American Lung Association’s annual State of the Air report gave Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties an “F” in ozone pollution, while Bucks County was the worst in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection published an interim report. ReportJanuary reveals the state’s waterways are becoming more polluted and more unsafe for drinking, recreation, and wildlife. Making matters worse, as Lancaster’s Fox43 revealedAugust saw hundreds of schools in Pennsylvania suffering from lead-contaminated drinking waters due to lead pipes.
Extreme weather is another matter.
“We have had major storm events just this past summer,” said Tai. “It’s real. It’s hurting people. It’s hurting businesses. It’s a problem for people. We just can’t afford to wait.”
There was the “100-year flood” that ravaged lower Bucks County this summer that More than 1100 homes and businesses were damaged, left apartment complexes “uninhabitable,” and displaced hundredsLocal residents.
Extreme weather events, which include floods, tornadoes and wildfires, as well as droughts, heatwaves and droughts, are the New normal nationally. Nearly 700 people were killed in climate and weather disasters last year. The damage caused by these events cost the United States more than $145 billion.
“To be blunt, we’re running out of time,” said Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania’s Parzen. “We’ve already waited too long to act on climate change.”
It is imperative that a separate Build back Better climate bill be passed.
“The core climate components represent an absolutely transformational opportunity that will help reverse these trends,” added Parzen.
There are also secondary benefits, as state senators Amanda M. Cappelletti and Maria Collett, Steve Santarsiero, Judy Schwank, and Steve Santarsiero pointed out in a Letter Monday:
“The framework will create good-paying union jobs, grow domestic industries, and advance environmental justice for Black, brown, and low income Americans that have long been overlooked. It will be able to replace lead pipes with billions of dollars, providing clean water for kids and protecting their health.
This is something that we can all agree upon.
Now it’s up to us to pressure our lawmakers to make sure a Build Back Better climate bill passes. Let’s fight together, not against each other, on this.
Cyril Mychalejko, a teacher and freelance writer in Bucks County, is Cyril Mychalejko. He can be reached at [email protected] and at https://cyrilmychalejko.substack.com.
This article originally appeared in Bucks County Courier Times Combat the climate crisis before there’s nothing left to build back
