AMANDA DEDIE
Special to The Leader
The beloved Bill Nye the Science Guy has said it on shows and in interviews everywhere: “Climate change is our most urgent, number one priority right now.” Yet the question in everyone’s minds seems to be, “What can I do?”
Many tend to think that the issue of climate change is too big and too far gone to do anything about. However, the problem won’t be solved in an instant. It all starts with one person, and with one step — such as becoming a member of a new community group: Chautauqua Citizens Respond to Climate Crisis (CCRCC).
CCRCC was created around the time of the People’s Climate March in New York City this past September. With the thought in mind that most people in the area didn’t have the time or resources to travel, a group of local residents decided to join together and host a rally of their own. From there, CCRCC planned and marched on through downtown Fredonia, ending with educational speeches and live music.
The group’s work didn’t end there, however. CCRCC is now working on creating educational materials for the local community and planning some educational events, which will hopefully occur during Fredonia’s Earth Week in April.
In layman’s terms, the climate crisis goes as such: Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is emitted during the combustion of fossil fuels. The levels of it in the air have fluctuated over time but with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the levels have increased enormously. Greenhouse gases trap solar energy at the earth’s surface, raising the temperature of the earth unevenly. With deforestation and the cutting down of trees that absorb carbon dioxide, we produce more carbon dioxide than that which can be reabsorbed; it is left on the surface of the earth.
“What we’re doing now, we can’t undo for 100 years. We have a very narrow window in which to act,” said Dr. Julia Wilson, professor of mathematical sciences and an acting chair of the CCRCC. “We have to act on the side of caution, and we need to take aggressive action now.”
Wilson hopes to soon see a total transformation of our global economy — something she says communities could benefit it more ways than one.
“A lot of the things that we can do to eliminate greenhouse emissions can actually create jobs, but it has to be done carefully and strategically, and in a very short amount of time,” said Wilson. “We are the drivers of the global warming and climate change that we are seeing, and that we have a fairly narrow window in which we need to act. It is in that way that I see it as a crisis.”
CCRCC focuses not on debating the topic of global warming, but rather taking steps with those who are interested and informed, (or want to be), to try to combat the climate crisis.
“I’m not really focused on convincing anyone about that fact that there’s global warming, because it really is a fact; it’s nothing really to be debated about anymore; now it’s just what to do about it,” James Wilmoth, a board member for the Greystone Nature Preserve and the secretary for CCRCC, said during a recent phone interview.
The CCRCC welcomes an array of members, including people from the community, students and professionals — all people with an interest and curiosity to want to do something about global warming.
Minda Rae Amiran is a recently retired Fredonia professor and activist for the League of Women Voters. According to her, the league is concerned about how little knowledge many people show regarding climate change and what little action is taken to combat the phenomenon.
“The damage that we’ve already done to the earth’s environment by burning fossil fuels, and in other ways, has resulted in changes that we will be suffering from for the next 100 years. If we don’t do something now to mitigate some of these processes, then it will get very worse than it may otherwise be,” concludes Amiran.
To learn more, or to get involved with the CCRCC, email ccrccinfo@gmail.com, visit ccrccinfo.org, or email Dr. Julia Wilson at julia.wilson@fredonia.edu.