As a musician, people are often surprised when I say that I am equally passionate about fighting for the environment. I have made it my mission to combine my two passions in life, and thus make music with environmental messages. I have also resolved to act diligently and do all that I can on behalf of our environment, to speak up, educate, and use my voice to inspire positive change. Often it can feel like trying to stem the tide with a small bucket. It is easy to feel discouraged, yet giving up is not an option. We face so many challenges in our environment — all of them serious.
When I was a student in New Orleans, I saw issues exacerbated by climate change such as increased flooding and rapidly vanishing wetlands. Out west, the big problems are drought, water scarcity, and stronger wildfires. In Florida, where I spent my early childhood, sea level rise is already affecting coastal communities. And where I live now, in North Carolina, we’ve witnessed firsthand the dangerous impacts of stronger storms. One thread ties all of these together: our climate is changing, humans are to blame, and we desperately need to act before it’s too late. It is time for solutions.
I was excited to see the introduction of the Green New Deal resolution because it was a response that finally matched the scale of the problem that we face. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that unless we reduce our carbon pollution dramatically by 2030 — just eleven years away — we will stand no chance of maintaining a safe climate, and the impacts will increase dramatically. Climate champions in Congress are stepping up: in addition to the Green New Deal, the House recently passed a bill to ensure the U.S. upholds its commitment under the Paris Climate Agreement, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis recently held a hearing to highlight youth leadership on this challenge, and Senate Democrats are moving forward without help from Republicans to create a Senate Special Committee on Climate. But that’s not enough — the science says that we need a rapid change to a 100% clean energy economy.
Unfortunately, the response that we’ve seen from Republicans like my home-state Senators Tillis and Burr has been beyond disappointing. Tillis took to the floor of the Senate with a sign inspired by Chick-fil-A’s marketing materials to deride the resolution as unserious and unrealistic. But for the serious and extremely real problems we face from a changing climate, he offered nothing but rhetoric.
In my home state, we’re already seeing the impacts of climate change. Just last year, Hurricane Florence dumped just over 35 inches of rain on parts of our state — with devastating impacts that included $170 billion in damage and more than 50 lives lost. And we’re also seeing longer, hotter stretches of dangerously hot weather. In 1989, the Charlotte area saw 39 days per year reach 90 degrees or hotter. Now, that number averages 48 days per year. If we fail to act, scientists say that there could be anywhere from 59 to 94 such days by 2089. North Carolina as a whole currently averages 10 dangerous heat days a year. By 2050, the state is projected to see nearly 60 dangerous heat days per year.
Our Senators are too concerned about protecting business as usual — even if it means those businesses and the benefits they provide could be lost in the future. They’ve joined with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to attack the Green New Deal as a fantasy utopia — but what is their plan, other than to squeeze every last dime out of our planet? They have no plan other that to deny that the climate is changing. And we don’t have time to waste.
People say my generation is impatient, and maybe they’ve got a point — but it’s only because our leaders have been too patient, too complacent, too content to do nothing in the face of rising seas, more powerful storms, and the gradual loss of our environment. They are putting all of our lives at risk as well as the lives of future generations. We cannot afford to stay silent. We will not let our entire planet become irreparably damaged because of the selfishness of a small group of people in positions of power. True leaders care about the people and land they serve and act with reverence towards the Earth, our home. I see the current world leaders who actively deny climate change, as well as those who look the other way, as cowards. Youth activists are not afraid to question business as usual, and we are out of patience because we are out of time. We need genuine, urgent action on climate change — and we need it now.
David D’Angelo is a musician and climate activist from North Carolina.
