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Don’t ignore climate crisis

To the editor:

I participated in the Dec. 6 Sunrise Movement demonstration in Trinity Park (Plattsburgh). We walked with Sunrise members to the nearby Clinton County Government Building, where various governmental entities, including Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s Plattsburgh office, are located.

As a member of the Baby Boomer generation, I have been a witness to the coming of age of this generation of young people. They are deeply conscious of the looming maelstrom of climate change and know they must act to gather support and organize forces to face the worldwide catastrophe which climate change portends. These youth have led and organized actions because they know their generation may eventually bear this crushing burden if the earth is damaged beyond sustainability for our current population of 7 billion people, let alone the 9 billion who will eventually cohabit this planet alongside of them.

To reiterate, Dec. 6: After speeches and actions in the park, demonstrators and a group of Sunrise Movement members walked as a group to Stefanik’s office. A list consisting of requested changes to fight the climate crisis was given to staffers in Congresswoman Stefanik’s office. The staffers were courteous to the Sunrise representatives; however, no formal response has been forthcoming from her office.

We are at a moment in the history of humankind where what we decide to do regarding the climate crisis significantly matters. As of now right now and every future moment on, we witness the advancing tendrils of climate crisis impact upon this region, town and our very own backyards.

More demonstrations are coming as people see too little response on many governmental levels needed to fight climate change. There are many measures that can be taken on an individual or village level to address the climate crisis. (Thankfully in our region many people and villages are acting to work toward sustainability.)

Climate science shows a certainty that climate change has already started; there is no credible debate as to this reality. One may deny reality, but science must be the cornerstone of our crisis strategy.

The youth of this nation and the world are engaging in the war against climate change. They are trying to save a sustainable future for the plants and living creatures of every kind. We must not ignore or abandon them in this their enormous undertaking.

We need to accelerate our partnership with them; this is a cross-generational clarion call for action by people living on this planet to do what we can to address this climate crisis. Cross-generationally we must act politically, fiscally, with voice, letter and by showing up to fight for the future and give the generations in existence and to be born a future the equivalent of or greater than we experienced on this giving Earth.

To turn our backs on people trying to salvage a livable future would rank among the greatest wrongs of all time.

Stephen DeHond

Saranac Lake

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