Earth Day is coming April 22. Are you wondering what action you can take to make the planet better that day? Will it be a trash pickup, tree planting, installing a rain barrel, getting a compost bin?
All these activities are great. But I’ve got a suggestion that won’t hurt your back, require mechanical skills or cost you anything. Have a climate conversation! Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe says that’s the most impactful thing you can do to slow climate change. Even though climate change is a huge threat to all life on this planet, only the “environmentalists” seem to be talking about it (“We are not disheartened by climate change deniers,” April 12).
Let’s change that for Earth Day. Here’s my challenge: Find a family member, friend, co-worker, your doctor’s receptionist, the first-grader who lives next door — any human being will do — and ask them what they think about climate change. You don’t have to know anything scientific, just see what comes up in conversation. Talking about it is what’s important.
Then log your conversations at cclusa.org/conversations. Citizens’ Climate Lobby is sponsoring this activity and has a goal of 25,000 climate conversations during the month of April. I’ll bet readers of The Baltimore Sun would like to know how these conversations went, so tell us in a letter to the editor. I can hardly wait to hear what you found out.
— Cheryl Arney, Ellicott City
The writer is a volunteer with Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
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