Can our leaders respond to the climate crisis?

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Weather events in recent months have ignited conversations around the effects of climate change we’re already seeing. And from months of squabbling in Washington over passing infrastructure and spending packages to President Biden’s recent address at the United Nations, climate change has been a major hot topic in the news.

HerChesapeake is not a political or partisan organization, so I will spare you my opinions about the politics of the situation on Capitol Hill. However, from the recent devastating hurricanes and flooding, wildfires in the West, and increasingly severe storms (a real life tornado hitting Annapolis!), governments at all levels need to act quickly to respond to the climate crisis. 

Here are just some of the climate investments currently proposed in the infrastructure and spending packages being debated in Congress at the moment:

  • Modernizing the electric grid and beefing up public transit.

  • Providing tax credits for electric vehicles and building new EV charging stations.

  • Upgrading clear water infrastructure, including replacing remaining lead service lines and pipes.

  • Promoting low-carbon technologies for ports and airports.

  • Clean up Superfund and brownfield sites.

  • Establishing the Clean Electricity Performance Program, which would pay utility companies to switch from greenhouse gas-emitting electricity sources, such as coal and natural gas, to sources such as wind, solar, hydropower, and nuclear.

Experts can debate whether these provisions are the right ones to take - or if they go far enough to make a real difference. But it’s clear that both at home and around the globe, climate change is not some far-off future scenario -- it’s here, right now, and causing havoc. There are steps we can all take to reduce our carbon footprint and live more sustainably, but more importantly, it’s on our leaders in government, business and civil society to step up and take responsibility. It’s time to meet the moment and treat climate change as the existential threat it is. Doing nothing is not an option.

Are you feeling eco-anxiety? Check out this HerChesapeake blog by Megan Ossmann for tips to manage it.

Sources: E&E News, ABC 7 Chicago, NPR