News & Articles

Earlier today, I was reading two articles on the CNN website. The first piece was about the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention making false claims that link autism and vaccines. Even though there is overwhelming evidence that there’s no connection, the Centers’ website is now presenting anti-vaccine talking points that didn’t rule out a link between vaccines and autism.

The second piece highlighted the Trump administration’s position that immigrants present a domestic threat to the country. In the Chicago area, 3,000 people were arrested between June and October of this year, even though less than 5% of these immigrants had any criminal histories.

The American Immigration Council has presented research and studies which show that immigration does not increase crime rates. Also, immigrants are less likely than U.S. born citizens to commit crimes, and immigrants are also less likely to be incarcerated and have lower rates of felony arrests than U.S. born citizens.

In the past year, we have seen the president, members of his administration and many of our political leaders struggle with the reality and truth about immigration, crime, gun violence, vaccines, health care, homelessness, unemployment, racism and climate change.

Too often, they have decided to turn their backs on what is actually happening in our country, and are trying to offer perspectives and narratives that are factually and historically incorrect or at least misleading.

Every time I see any of them trying to misrepresent what is actually happening, I think of the famous line by Jack Nicholson in the film A Few Good Men where his character yells out “You can’t handle the truth!”

It isn’t easy to face the truth. But when we don’t face the truth, we find ourselves struggling with how to face and address the various challenges and crises in our lives.

Also, the decisions and choices we make will not be the smartest, wisest and most effective responses to any situation or event.

On Nov. 20, climateandeconomy.com reported on the biggest fire in Japan within the past 50 years, landslides in Indonesia, exceptional heat in Mexico, intense storms in Greece, severe droughts in Kenya, heatwave in Pakistan, flooding in the Congo, extreme weather events in India have increased nearly 50% in 4 years, and 1,019 glaciers in Switzerland have disappeared since 1973.

The truth and reality about climate change is that the CO2 levels continue to rise, we are seeing and experiencing higher global temperatures, there are more severe droughts and we have more extreme weather events.

So, whether it’s in our nation’s capitol or the city of Duluth, can we handle the truth about climate change?

Can we face the facts and reality about climate change and how it’s impacting our lives?

And if we don’t acknowledge and address climate change, if we don’t know how to handle the truth, what will happen to us and the future lives of our children and grandchildren?

In her book Facing The Climate Emergency, Margaret Klein Salamon wrote, “Living in climate truth is hard, but it’s the only way forward. Once you begin to live in climate truth, you will experience a wide range of emotions, and they will be intense. They will be upsetting and overwhelming, but that is wholly appropriate to the stakes of a crisis that is set to lead to mass destruction and death. Your painful feelings spring from the best parts of yourself, from your empathy, sense of responsibility, love for others, and love of life. These feelings connect you to all life and will fuel the work ahead. Immersing yourself fully in them is a heroic, even sacred, undertaking.”

For all of us who call Duluth our home, how can we live in climate truth? How can we deal with our painful feelings and embrace a greater sense of responsibility and love for our city? How can we use this truth to fuel our work to address climate change and help create a healthier and more sustainable city?

Take some time to ask yourself these questions. And then find opportunities in your daily lives to immerse yourself in making individual and collective commitments to bringing our city by the lake into a more promising future for all living beings.