On April 29, an unprecedented storm with hurricane force winds tore through southwestern Pennsylvania, with many areas in Pittsburgh hit particularly hard. At its peak, 40% of Duquesne Light customers were without electricity. Three people died as a result of the storm. Hundreds of trees, many stately old shade trees that had lined the streets for decades, were downed, tearing down electric lines, blacking out neighborhoods, smashing cars and snarling roads. We’ve already been warned to expect more of such damaging storms.
Also on April 29, the Trump administration fired approximately 400 scientists tasked to work on a congressionally mandated national climate report. The Trump administration wants to cut the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) staff by 65% and wants to break up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). These organizations provide climate data that guides us in making sensible climate policies that can help keep us safe from the negative effects of climate disasters. NOAA builds computer models that save lives by more accurately predicting the paths of hurricanes. The administration is also looking to eliminate the clean energy tax credits that have brought $4.5 billion of investments, along with 10,500 jobs and 52 clean energy projects to Pennsylvania.
In my backyard (Cynthia Kirsch) stood a towering blue spruce that had been our first Christmas tree when we moved into our home in 1992. She toppled over like a matchstick, taking down electrical wires and a pole. The response of a relative to some photos that were sent was, “I thought Pittsburgh is in the weather Goldilocks zone. I guess nowhere is the weather never a threat, given climate change and increasingly severe weather.”
Indeed, nowhere is safe. Mother Nature is mad, and the reach of her anger has been widespread in the form of unnaturally strong hurrican stand upcanes, wildfires, droughts and flooding.
The tragedy of the multitude of climate disasters we have experienced in the U.S. and across the world is that they could have been mitigated long ago. Scientists — along with the fossil fuel industry — have long known that the carbon emissions from fossil fuel use is the major contributor to climate change. Unfortunately, this administration views climate change skeptically if not derisively, with renewed calls for “drill, baby, drill.”
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It can be easy to feel helpless in the face of this, but there are things that we as citizens can do.
First and foremost, don’t give up and don’t give in to “overwhelm.” Make your voice heard. Be as courageous as you can be. Forces opposing climate action are banking on individuals and groups giving up, not pushing back. Get support from friends and groups. Join something because mutual support is valuable. There are many good environmental groups out there that are dedicated to protecting the environment. We are volunteers with Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL), a nonprofit, non-partisan volunteer driven organization dedicated to getting climate legislation passed.
Make your voice heard by regularly contacting your members of Congress. Politicians only take action on issues they believe are important to their constituents, so let them know you are concerned about the climate and that you want to see results. Twenty-one House Republicans have called for preserving the IRA clean energy tax credits, so let’s work to get more on board. Many environmental groups, such as CCL, have actions dedicated to reaching out to Members of Congress. CCL’s current mission is to protect the clean energy tax credits.
Educating yourself about clean energy and the climate will also help strengthen your ability talk to others. Climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe has said that “the most important thing you can do about climate change is talk about it”. There are a lot of good podcasts and books out there focused on the climate and clean energy that can be found with a quick search on the internet.
For the sake of the planet and its inhabitants, please join the growing group of citizens taking action to reduce the effects of climate change.
Cynthia Kirsch of Edgewood and Dana Siler of Squirrel Hill are co-lea.ders of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.