Taking Action on Climate
On Climate Action Day, Exeter’s regular class schedule will be replaced by workshops devoted to sustainability and environmental change.
With twenty-two workshops to choose from, this day will be heated with discussion about the planet’s most pressing issues.
Scientists declared 2014 as the warmest year on record, identifying alarming repercussions caused by the way humans have treated the planet. Climate change can no longer be denied. If humans continue to disregard the health of our planet, the results will be cataclysmic. The U.N. is forming plans to combat climate change, and the U.S. government has pledged its participation. Obama addressed this commitment in his State of the Union, where he said, “The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security. We should act like it… I am determined to make sure that American leadership drives international action.” However, it is very unclear whether these global directives will be too little too late.
Therefore, it is vital that we do not rely solely on our leadership. As individuals and within our communities, we all must act to initiate change. That is why Climate Action Day, entirely devoted to the way we treat our planet, is so important. I sincerely hope that Exonians will make the most of this day—a day when they have the opportunity to hear and engage in discussions with internationally respected speakers who have devoted their lives to protecting the environment.
Exonians are often referred to as the future leaders of this planet, and as such they have a moral imperative to come together on this day and take it seriously. With workshops like “Can the World be Carbon Neutral?” “Reconstructing the Economy from the Bottom Up” and “Sustainable Electricity for a Sustainable Future,” students will learn about some of the most pressing environmental issues, and what courses of action they can take to help. I hope the future entrepreneurs and leaders will be inspired to shape their businesses and innovations with sustainability as the driving force for their decisions, and students will hopefully choose to take action. Because of the responsibility our generation has for the future of our planet, it is critical that we are entirely educated on and mindful of the environmental troubles that Earth is facing and how to fix them.
This day is not the time to complain about the workshops and dismiss the importance of their content. It is the time to act together for our own future and support Exeter’s choice in devoting a day to this issue. And so, I am hopeful that Exeter will react positively to Climate Action Day. Although the state of our planet is terrifying and overwhelming, I hope that students will choose to stay positive. We should use our stress about the planet’s outcome to move us forward, instead of letting it push us back.
I am hopeful that Climate Action Day will excel in bringing light to what I believe are the matters we should be thinking about every day. ♥