News & Articles

In 2023, 2,000 Swiss women organized as Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland (KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz) waged a legal battle at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. The group is suing the Swiss government in Europe’s highest human-rights court for not doing enough to combat climate change.

On Feb. 12, the Associated Press reported that the Trump Administration was revoking a scientific finding that had been the foundation of our country’s actions to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change. They were reversing a 2009 government policy which declared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions were threatening our public health and welfare.

The current administration’s decision would eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks, and pull back various climate regulations on power plants and gas facilities.
Trump stated that this 2009 policy was “one of the greatest scams in history” and claimed that the scientific finding had no basis in fact. 

And yet, within seven days of Trump’s decision, there were several new stories about climate change’s growing impacts upon the planet.  

On Feb. 15, Earth.com reported that Alaska has more wildfires than at any time in the past 3,000 years. The rise in the number of wildfires indicates that the Arctic tundra is no longer protected by cold, wet grounds and that this marks the start of a “hotter, more flammable fire era driven by drying soils and spreading shrubs.” 

The next day, the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change presented a new report recommending that the European Union (EU) strengthen its efforts to undertake climate adaptation given the rise in escalating and increasingly systemic climate risks.

The report stated that Europe is warming about twice as fast as the global average, with rising temperatures, droughts, wildfires, flooding and coastal erosion.

Also, it was recommended that the EU prepare for climate risks associated with 2.8 to 3.3 degrees Celsius warming by 2100. 

In his book The Terror Of The Unforeseen, Henry Giroux wrote, “Ignorance now rules America. Not the simple, if somewhat innocent ignorance that comes from an absence of knowledge, but a malicious ignorance forged on the arrogance of refusing to think hard about an issue.” 

Whether it’s at the national level, or here at the local level in a city like Duluth, we have to wonder about the malicious ignorance embraced by so many of our political, business and civic leaders who refuse to make any serious attempts to think hard about such a challenging and consequential issue like climate change.

If our city chooses not to respond with any sense of urgency to Duluth’s 2018 climate vulnerability assessment and the 2021 climate emergency resolution passed by the Duluth City Council, what will be the environmental, public health, economic and political consequences for all of us?

When it appeared in September of last year that the mayor and city government were not going to keep a full-time sustainability officer position in the 2026 city budget, a group of citizens came together to raise the public’s awareness and appreciation for a more sustainable city, and organized a petition for citizens who wanted a more sustainable city government.

It was through the collective efforts of many people that the position was included in the 2026 budget. You could even say it was because of the insightful maturity of the citizens that we will continue addressing climate change and hopefully help create a more sustainable and resilient city.

Duane Elgin and Margaret Klein Salamon, authors of Choosing Earth and Facing The Climate Emergency, talk about the need to wake up and grow up. 

Elgin argues that we must depend on the conscious choices we make while exploring how to live with more compassion and a collective imagination. 

Salamon wrote, “When you face climate truth and let it transform you, you will become heroic, leveraging your talents, energy and resources in service of protecting humanity and all of life. No one is coming to save us, but together, we might be able to save ourselves.” 

On Thursday, Jan. 27, a group of citizens came together for the first meeting of the Duluth Citizens Climate Commission. This commission is a one-year initiative to engage, educate and empower as many people as possible to take a more proactive role in addressing the growing impacts of climate change on Duluth.

Instead of ignoring this climate emergency and putting all of us at greater risk, we realize that it is imperative that our city undertake a smarter and hopefully wiser approach to moving forward in this climate reality of rising global temperatures, higher CO2 levels, droughts and extreme weather events. 

Unlike so many of our leaders who have chosen malicious ignorance, the citizens of Duluth need to come together to embrace a more insightful maturity to how we choose to engage and respond to climate change for many years to come.