Local signs we are living through the climate emergency
Climate emergency. Why do so many of us turn away from these two simple words when, by acting together, we can greatly reduce the threat? Let's take a closer at what living through the climate emergency is like here in the Chicago area and how the average citizen can respond.
In northern Illinois, our most direct experience of the climate emergency is the growing number of severe storms that bring torrential rains and floods. Starting in 2018, each year we experienced the wettest May on record. Last year, eight inches of rain fell in May on saturated ground. From Lake County southward, thousands of homes flooded, stranded residents were rescued by boats and the Chicago River was reversed to dump a mix of sewage and stormwater into Lake Michigan, the source of drinking water for millions. Our local media was filled with video, photos and eyewitness accounts of these events.
Yet, the direct physical impacts of this extreme weather are only part of the climate emergency. Flood after flood, financial damages grow - higher insurance rates, declining home values, foreclosures, FEMA buyouts and higher local taxes to pay for ever more expensive floodwater infrastructure. Daily Herald articles over the past four years cover 12 municipal stormwater projects in the Chicago suburbs costing roughly $185 million. Libertyville and Lincolnshire may charge homeowners stormwater fees to help cover some of these costs. Even if our own homes are safe, our pocketbooks are lighter. How long will it be until the measures that cost us millions today are overwhelmed by heavier rains?
Looking further into the future, the U.S. government's Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2017, warns that climate-related impacts on critical systems such as water resources, food production, energy, transportation, public health, international trade and national security could mount to hundreds of billions of dollars annually by 2021. Clearly, the climate emergency involves more than the sum of severe weather events.
Our youth are especially aware of these longer term risks. They increasingly ask, "What will the world be like when we grow up?" In any other emergency, we would do whatever we could to protect them. But millions of Americans living through the climate crisis feel powerless to act. The simple act of filling and placing a sandbag can be deeply gratifying even though one sandbag alone can't divert a flood. But how can we stack a sandbag against a threat so vast in scope and complexity, so slow to fully materialize? What can we do and how can one person possibly make a difference?
Fortunately, there is hope. We don't have to act alone. Locally elected officials in our municipalities and counties are working to improve stormwater infrastructure and flood control and to reduce energy consumption and shift to renewable sources of energy wherever feasible. Meanwhile, committed groups of citizens have worked intensively with state representatives to formulate and introduce the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) in the Illinois legislature. And at the national level, the Biden administration is striving to integrate climate action across federal departments, agencies and national initiatives. All we need to do is join in supporting these efforts.
We're fortunate that in the Chicago area, several strong climate action groups make it easy to fight global warming. These groups typically provide average citizens a wealth of expertise in climate science, economics, civil engineering and politics, along with training and easy, practical actions we can take no matter how little personal time we might have to contribute. In fact, one of the most powerful ways to fight climate change is to call or write our congressional representatives and tell them we want fast, effective action to cut carbon emissions.
Earth Day 2021 is April 22. If you're concerned about climate change but don't know what to do, consider contacting an environmental action group that matches your interests. It's easier than filling a sandbag and deeply gratifying to know that you're working to protect those living now and generations to come.
• Scott Buckley, of Naperville, is a member of the Greater Naperville Chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby. This is the first in a series of columns the Daily Herald will publish this week in coordination with Covering Climate Now, https://coveringclimatenow.org/, a collaboration of news media organizations from around the world intended to focus attention on climate change.