Editor’s note: This commentary is by Stephanie Clement, of Burlington, who is a master’s student studying Climate Change and Global Sustainability at the School for International Training. She is currently interning for the Vermont Climate and Health Alliance.
Climate change seems to be the last thing on most people’s minds right now. A commentary here, a study there, and a mention in VPR news, but a few mentions does not ensure action. We have an enormous opportunity right now to leverage the lessons we are learning from the global COVID-19 pandemic and apply them to a greater global threat: climate change.
The World Health Organization has called climate change the greatest global health threat of the 21st century. Looking at climate change through this human health lens allows us to reflect on some of our current actions and responses with regard to the coronavirus pandemic. Covid-19 is just one problem that we are facing, and our response speaks volumes about how we will respond to future public health issues that arise as the planet’s climate changes. This diagram from the Center for Disease Control shows the potential health effects of different environmental changes. Covid-19 falls into one out of the eight health impacts of climate change represented in the diagram. The direct impacts of environmental change on human health can be seen with Covid-19, and the way we address these impacts will be important to the well-being of ourselves and future generations.
As a millennial who has worked in both the health and environmental sectors, and who is currently studying climate change, I have witnessed and examined the overlapping effects that climate change has and will have on our environment and well-being. I have also observed how during this pandemic, hundreds and thousands of frontline workers in Vermont have adjusted their lives and expectations in order to serve their communities, and those communities have thanked them in kind by sending words of encouragement, tipping generously, supporting local businesses, sewing masks by the thousands, and more. We Vermonters know what it means to support our communities — whether they be our neighbourhoods, our towns, our counties, or even our state. We know how to stand up and support each other, and we are seeing it happen right now.
As Vermonters, we place a lot of value on our natural spaces. During this pandemic, we have been told to get outside for our own physical and mental health. The connection is clear: Healthy environments and climate support healthy human populations. Our trail systems are open again, and our state parks are encouraging responsible outdoor recreation during this pandemic. Having access to clean air and water, maintained forests, and wild spaces is crucial not only for our own mental and physical health, but also for the planet’s.
Vermonters are resilient. We’re adaptable and innovative. And we have the obligation now to, as Barack Obama puts it, “expand [our] moral imaginations” and act upon what we know is happening to support the sustainability of our environment and our communities. The Vermont Legislature is proposing two big climate change bills: (1) the Global Warming Solutions Act (or, H.688, read it here), which resets Vermont’s greenhouse gas emissions targets and forces state government to figure out how we will those limits, and (2) the Climate Change Response Plan (S.185, read it here), which regards climate change as a public health threat and thus mandates communication and planning with local public health agencies, hospitals, and health care workers to put climate mitigation ideas into action and prepare for health problems caused by climate change. So as we are still working from home, “staying smart and staying safe”, we can still begin to take action on this larger issue by calling our senators, House representatives, and governor to voice our support for these bills.
As Obama said in this 2020 high school commencement speech, “(B)uild a community. No one does big things by themselves.” These are the words we need to carry with us as we move forward during this pandemic and set our sights on the looming issue of climate change.
While it is a large and global issue, making change begins with small actions by individuals and communities. We’re Vermonters, we’re “Vermont Strong”, and we can leverage this moment to begin to ensure the well-being of our state, country, and planet for years to come.
