This is a guest post by Heather Clark:
I tend to be fairly quiet about sharing my thoughts about climate change, until now. As a mother of two toddlers, I realized that creating a smaller carbon footprint at home is not enough. I am deeply concerned about what the world will look like in 2045 when my children are my age and having children of their own. Climate change threatens our food supply, our homes, our safety, and most importantly, the health of our children.
I first learned about climate change in seventh grade. Then I studied climate change in college, but it seemed so abstract and futuristic that I had a hard time believing it would happen. Somewhere between Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy, climate change became very real for me. Those storms prompted me to read climate change reports from the United Nations, the Pentagon, NASA, the National Academy of Sciences and other sources. On YouTube, I watched the Philippine representative at the UN Climate Summit announce his hunger strike, as he spoke tearfully about how climate change is devastating his country. I also began looking at flood maps of Cape Cod and Virginia Beach, where my sisters and parents live. I cringe when I think about the world our families will live in if we don’t do something now to curb climate change.
As a parent, I know that we must take action! After attending my first climate change rally when my kids were one and three, I experienced the power of children and families together, calling attention to climate change. I recently came up with the idea of a Play-In — a family-friendly event that gives parents the opportunity to demand action from our politicians.
Sadly, some polluters and politicians are doing everything in their power to undermine solutions As parents, we must vocalize our power by supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency efforts to regulate carbon at power plants.
Please join my family at the Play-In for Climate Action in Washington, D.C. on July 9, 2014. As parents, let’s join together and let our voices be heard loud and clear!
Heather Clark is Principal of the Biome Studio where she designs self-sufficient communities that power themselves with renewable energy, clean waste with plants and micro-organisms, produce food, provide habitat, and connect deeply with residents. Heather is also an artist, weaving her passion for ecology and self-sufficiency into large scale art installations and sculpture. Heather lives in Virginia with her family.