KENNEBEC JOURNAL • April 22, 2022
Earth Day serves as a useful benchmark to remember where we’ve been, but more important, a beacon as to where we need to go. While nearly everyone knows about Earth Day, the systematic changes it was supposed to catalyze have continually been delayed. Today, we are seeing even more existential threats to our lives and livelihoods due to the global climate crisis. But it is not too late. The most recent U.N. climate report clearly shows that we have the solutions to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5C degrees, which would prevent the worst effects of the climate crisis. What is lacking is the commitment and action from governments, the financial sector and corporations to deploy these solutions at the scale and speed required. A big reason for this is climate disinformation that continues to spread on social media channels, blatant greenwashing from corporations, as well as politicians prioritizing the needs of corporations over the people they were elected to serve. We have less than a decade to slash global emissions if we want a livable future. ~ Anusha Narayanan, Greenpeace USA