By Lynnae Marty Hentzen
We are starting a new series for Earth Month focused on our planet under stress and the urgent climate crisis.
Olivia Hicks, environmental journalism student at Western Washington University and the Digital Creator for the Your Green Portal website, will be my co-host for this series.
It is becoming more evident every day that climate change is real and happening now. With this series, we will bring on guests who can give you the facts but also leave you with hope and an urge to act. As much as I would love to think that we can solve the climate crisis through individual actions, I know that we all need bold policies at every level of government to make the necessary changes needed in the short amount of time that we have.
My kids are what drive me to take steps within my own life as well as to work collectively within the community on various initiatives on sustainability and climate change. Whenever I am reading a book on this topic and a goal is stated for a particular year, (e.g., 100% carbon free by 2035) I write in the margin what age each of my kids will be that year! It seriously brings home the urgency for me. As I’ve told them many times, I do this work for them. I want them to be able to enjoy this precious planet we call home in the same way that I have. Time is limited!
Our guests today are from the Environmental Law and Policy Center based out of Chicago.
Steve Falck, who is the Senior Policy Advocate based here in Des Moines
Ann Mesnikoff, who is the Federal Legislative Director based in Washington, D.C.
As stated on their website, “ELPC’s multidisciplinary staff employs teamwork approaches using legal, economic, public policy and communications tools to produce successes that improve the environment and the economy.” They are a great example of an organization emphasizing the both-and approach. We do not need to choose between one or the other. Our best path forward is through strengthening the environment and the economy to assure they are both sustainable long term.
Key Takeaways from our discussion:
- We see the impacts from extreme weather events locally, but it is a global problem
- There are many sources of climate change but we also have many solutions
- We need government to set the goals and then we need policy at all levels to follow
- It is critical that every sector of the government embed climate considerations into their goals
- The last climate report done by the Iowa Legislature was in 2010
- Iowa has a great renewable energy story; in the most recent DNR report, 60% of our electricity is generated by wind!
- When we understand the science of climate change, we know it is real. We need to act quickly.
- We need to embrace change but also make sure we invest in an equitable transition
We’ve added book recommendations as a component of this Earth Month series.
Our recommendations this week are:
- Steve – A Promised Land, Barack Obama
- Ann – Silent Spring, Rachel Carson
- Olivia – Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-wild World, Emma Marris
- Lynnae – Eaarth, Bill McKibben
“To waste, to destroy our natural resources,
To skin and exhaust the land instead of
Using it so as to increase its usefulness,
Will result in undermining in the days of
Our children the very prosperity which
We ought by right to hand down to them
Amplified and developed.
~ Theodore Roosevelt
“We won’t have a society if we destroy the environment.”
~ Margaret Mead
Thank you for listening to today’s discussion. Let’s continue the conversation and learn from each other.