Climate Crisis Demands Change was published by The Grass Valley Union. In addition to being a Nevada County Sunrise member, Jonah Platt is a member of the Board of Directors of Earth Justice Ministries.
We, the Nevada County Sunrise Chapter, are calling on the people of our community to support us and others as we ask for the community to undergo systemic change toward a more equitable and sustainable future.
It is unfortunate to look around us and see what feels like the world burning before our eyes. We’ve inherited this Earth and feel a need to protect it from ourselves.
There are options before us to create a more just and climate-responsible society and community but without collective and individual action, nothing changes. The Earth and many people upon it are crying out for real change.
The fact is, we can bring that change and alter the course of our shared humanity. The generations that come after us are our inherent responsibility. We must provide for them a safe and supportive environment to grow up in.
On a global scale, we’ve over-consumed what’s possible to sustain our guaranteed future as a species, while at the same time forsaking the survival of most living things on this planet. It’s no wonder many of us young people feel a sense of despair and oncoming collapse when considering the state of things.
That being an unfair environment to grow up in, we still believe there’s hope. We see it when members of our community act toward social and climate justice. We feel it when we organize and work together toward changing our community.
One ask that we have of you is that you help us as we call on our elected officials to make impactful policy decisions to directly address the climate emergency we are all in.
Nothing changes until we accept the emergency and initiate an aggressive adjustment to how we do things.
Some simple steps we can take now through policy action include stopping the reopening of the Idaho-Maryland Mine, updating the general plans of our cities and county to implement climate-responsible policies and procedures including plans for mitigating oncoming climate disasters, and working toward hitting carbon neutrality goals.
There are countless solutions we can adopt toward attaining a more sustainable future. We ask for your support and continued action to make a brighter future possible.
Join our call to action by signing our letter at https://actionnetwork.org/letters/climate-emergency, check us out online at http://www.nevadacountysunrise.org and follow us on Instagram at nevadacountysunrise.
Jonah Platt is a member of the Nevada County Sunrise Movement, which is a local hub for a national youth-led organization focusing on reversing the climate crisis through a Green New Deal. His piece was submitted on behalf of all members.
See the Union piece and the comments here: https://www.theunion.com/opinion/columns/jonah-platt-climate-crisis-demands-change/