Student letter: We can act to limit effects of climate crisis

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, November 8, 2023

This summer was the hottest on record. Ever. And the one before that was the hottest, and the one before that. We’ve been seeing hurricanes out of hurricane season, and some of the most severe wildfires ever displacing millions of people. My grandparents in Detroit saw their city’s streets flooded in August.

Climate change is real, and we can’t run. Our ice caps are melting and it seems like 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming is inevitable. But it’s not.

When we encounter issues like this, that are big and very complicated, we have a tendency to act like someone else is going to clean up our mess than actually make changes.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. From small actions, like buying your clothes second hand or eating a meatless meal once a week, to big actions, like buying an electric car or choosing a more efficient heating system, we can make a change. If the people of Edmonds learn about the tax reductions on electric cars, how much carbon is emitted from meat production, the benefits of composting, they will make changes.

We all have a choice. To keep closing our eyes, and pretending like nothing is happening, or to take action. You can choose to stand with my future and the future of so many other kids. While it may feel impossible, and like a letter to the editor in a newspaper in Washington won’t have any effect, it will.

Danielle D’Couto

Maplewood School

Edmonds