A prescription for the planet

I was feeling fine the day I went to the doctor for a procedure. They told me I had “severe aortic stenosis.” I had a 50 percent chance of surviving the next two years without heart surgery. I asked for a second opinion and when it concurred, I believed it.

I didn’t claim it was a conspiracy, insist the scientists were exaggerating, or sit around twiddling my thumbs pretending it wasn’t happening. I got the surgery and it probably saved my life.

Our planet’s health is threatened and it’s not entirely dissimilar. Scientists tell us that our planet our very existence may be in question if we don’t act soon. We can see the early symptoms: sea-level rise, wildfires, droughts, devastating storms but nothing like what is in store.

We’ve got lots of second opinions that agree with the diagnosis. However, shockingly, we’re still talking about conspiracies, and doing very little to solve the problem. We need to make changes to avoid massive destruction in a matter of decades.

Why don’t we take action to change our direction? I can tell you that the solution would be a good deal less painful than open-heart surgery.

Contact your U.S. senators tell them to support the climate change portion of the Build Back Better bill and vote only for people who have a realistic climate mitigation plan. Talk about it, read about, vote, take what steps you can. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

Jane Cranston

North Liberty