Nancy Riebschlager’s “My Turn” piece of Sept. 13, “Let’s join the world and work for a sustainable future” highlights the United Nations Sustainable Development goals and implores us to become familiar with them and to then act for the health of all life on our planet, including our own. She mentions Greta Thunberg, the 16 year-old Swedish climate activist who has inspired people around the world to speak out about climate change and to act to stop it. Greta’s words — “I want you to act. I want you to behave like your house is on fire. Because it is. — are playing out against 220 mph winds in the Bahamas, wildfires in California, and the hottest years of our plane on record. Words along are not enough; we need to act.
This coming Friday, Sept. 20, Global Climate Action is carrying out strikes and supporting rallies in more than 120 countries around the world. Students and others will be striking from school and work, lobbying legislatures and/or organizing in common cause out of concern for the planet, and for their (our) future.
Organizations and individuals from Franklin County are joining in the Global Climate Action and there are several ways for Franklin County residents to be involved. There will be a bus load of young people heading to Boston in the morning and a series of rallies around the county, with the final gathering at 5 p.m. on the Greenfield Common. I hope you will join us on the Greenfield Common to act for a healthy future. If we don’t act now we won’t get a second chance.
Doug Selwyn
Greenfield