Florence, Maria, and Me: Extending our Thoughts, Prayers, and Climate Action

End Climate Injustice signOur hearts go out to the people affected by hurricane Florence, and the people of Puerto Rico who are still suffering one year after Hurricane Maria. These tragic events have impacted millions of us, and even more so our vulnerable populations including children, the elderly, people with compromised health, and disadvantaged communities.

Our seasons are changing, and extreme weather is quickly becoming the “new normal.” But there is nothing normal about the intensity or frequency of these storms and floods. While some Americans are unsure about how much our changing climate is to blame, we can all agree that there has been visible change. We rarely have record low temperatures anymore — it’s always record highs. Warmer seasonal temperatures have consequences. They create dryer conditions in some areas, wetter conditions in others, and increase the number and strength of hurricanes and other extreme storms.

Americans are paying the price for extreme weather and climate change with our lives and livelihoods, and it is concerning. Extreme weather calamities are now costing us tens of billions of dollars each year and impacting our property values, but even more importantly our health and safety.

We’re generally not getting good information from trusted news sources on extreme weather and climate change, or what we can do about it. And, it’s time for us to move past partisanship and focus on caring for each other and our communities.

We don’t just have to let this happen to us — we can do something about it. The impacts of extreme weather and climate change are tragic, but the solutions make us hopeful. There is so much we can all do to care for the people impacted, better prepare, and stop the pollution that is causing our climate to change.

We care for each other when tragedy strikes. Let’s also work together to strengthen our communities with climate solutions like energy efficiency, smarter transportation, and cleaner energy.

We at ecoAmerica are committed to doing what we can to help, starting with making our own commitment to go to 100% clean energy in our operations, and encouraging all in our network to do the same. We hope you will join us with thoughts, prayers, and climate action.

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