Tucson Opinion: Climate change is part of every problem we face

In September 2019, Greta Thunberg was passionately reminding the world that our house is on fire and we should act like it.

In the year that has passed since Thunberg’s speech, we have experienced multiple crises and disasters on many fronts, the consequences of years of inaction on climate change. A pandemic; civil protests against longstanding inequities, racism, and violence; more frequent and stronger hurricanes (the recent hurricane Laura packed record-tying winds at 150 mph at landfall); and the most monstrous wildfires we have seen in recorded history, are all happening now.

It was only three months ago that our own Santa Catalina Mountains were burning. Our country has seen record-breaking heat, record temperature swings, and record winds all in the past two weeks. Thunberg’s statement is not a metaphor; it is reality in every sense. Our planet is on fire. And while it burns, we wring our hands, throw around blame, and create conspiracy theories.

Climate change and the environment should be the one and only thing we are talking about in this 2020 election. All other issues are connected to it.

Whether our concerns are finding a vaccine, figuring out how to go back to work and school, getting the economy back on track, fighting for social and environmental justice, making quality health care accessible and affordable, supporting humane migration, reforming education, preserving biodiversity, or simply finding time to be with our families, all of these issues require that we solve the climate crisis.

COVID-19, poverty and wildfires all stem from the same place – a centurieslong disregard for our environment by those we elect. In this election, at this moment of reckoning, we should be listening to candidates tell us about their plans to address this crisis and weighing the many options they present.

From the presidential race to the school board races, every one of the candidates should be centering their campaigns on how their policies will take care of our planet, our ecosystems and our people. Instead, we hear very little from any candidates, up and down the ticket, from any party, about taking real and meaningful action toward addressing climate change and healing our environment.

The only thing that will change this situation is collective action. We have an opportunity this election cycle, perhaps our last opportunity, to put out the fire that is burning our country to the ground. However, it requires that we all take one big action. We must VOTE.

Policies make a difference, and we, the people, elect the policy makers. This November we must vote for the candidates who champion climate and environmental policies and actions. We cannot fret our way out of this, we cannot educate our way out of this, we cannot dump plane loads of fire retardant on it and we cannot pretend climate change is a hoax.

We need climate change policies and programs now. The only way the policymakers will make and change policy to address this planet-wide crisis is if we demand it. And the only effective way to demand it is by making our voices heard at the ballot box.

VOTE like your life depends on it. Because it does.