A crowd gathered at the Vashon Theatre last Saturday to see some of the great outdoors on the silver screen, while the sun shone brightly outside, beckoning like a spring day.
People were there for the Land Trust’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival — a collection of films that told stories that spanned from the northern reaches of Alaska to the heart of Georgia, to close to home: the Elwha River, now running free.
One man in a film, a rancher in Idaho working to save the salmon runs there, said, “You don’t want to be connected to something that is going to be lost in your generation.”
And so he set to work, changing the things he could change — and the salmon flourished.
Like that rancher, we are all faced with a great challenge, in fact, one of the greatest challenges of all time: climate change. Like him, we do not want to be connected to all that will be lost — in our generation or generations to come. And so what do we do?
Many on Vashon are focused on this issue; indeed the island’s Climate Action Group formed a year ago, following the election of President Trump, preferring action to despair. Some in that group are working hard to create another meaningful Earth Day event later this spring, and as the commentary on the right illustrates, dedicated islanders are working to create change with Puget Sound Energy, so that it focuses on clean energy for the good of the planet and its people.
While facing down climate change can feel overwhelming, science tells us that our actions truly make a difference — and that is good news. In fact, one recent study indicated that the actions that people take could lower global temperatures by 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100. While 1.5 degrees may not sound like a lot, some experts say that could be enough to avert truly disastrous effects of our warming planet.
Last summer, a different study was released that showed the four most meaningful steps people could take to mitigate climate change are living car-free, giving up our reliance on air travel, having fewer children and eating a plant-based diet. No doubt, many of us would like those steps to be easier. The good news is that there are other easier steps we can take as well. Many of us know them, but it is good to be reminded that choices in our daily lives truly can make a difference: install solar panels, change light bulbs to LEDs, wash clothes in cold water, better insulate our homes, plant a garden. The list goes on and on.
Now, in the new year, let’s re-dedicate ourselves to the important work at hand, so that like the Idaho rancher, we might be connected not to what is lost, but to what is saved — now and in the generations to come.
