By Shriya Reddy
I have lived in Maryland for nearly 12 years of my life. I have grown up here seeing the floods that have decimated Old Ellicott City where I live, seeing my friends in Baltimore sent home from school due to the exceptionally high temperatures in the summer, seeing the Chesapeake Bay face warming temperatures, and witnessing the area face long periods of extreme weather conditions. I have grown up seeing my friends seek shelter in 2018 when heavy floods destroyed houses, restaurants, antique shops, and many more in the historical area. I have grown up watching students take action, cleaning up trash around local parks, organizing strikes, and participating in conferences and committees for their counties in an attempt to improve the quality of life. I have grown up with a strong group of individuals who, even as children, have put more effort into mitigating our issues than many adults have.
Large corporations focus so heavily on profits, on monetary production and completely disregard the environmental effects. They have left it up to the future generations, the 16-year-olds, to solve the issues that they have created.
These companies have caused havoc for communities of color. Black people in Baltimore are struggling from respiratory issues that have been caused by the sickening air quality. They have faced excessively high temperatures in the summer. They are faced with continual floods followed by periods of droughts. The BIPOC communities that have taken the hits from the climate crisis need our help. The intersectionality is visible. The climate crisis hurts minorities the most. Without providing climate equity we will not and cannot have an equal world.
When I visit my family in India, I observe the increased levels of pollution. Roads are filled with carbon emissions that create a thick gray fog that people walk through. Even before the pandemic, people wore masks to avoid the pollutants.
The issues we are facing are not small, and their importance increases as our dire situation worsens. Yet we continue to see a lack of progress.
Last year, Biden promised that by 2030, we would cut US emissions by 50%. But the mitigation efforts are not visible. We want changes to be made. We want emissions to be cut. We want corporations to be held accountable. We are in a climate emergency and there is no better time for the government to place emphasis on renewable energy and move away from fossil fuels.
With Biden’s full support, we can make progress towards an issue that has affected people around the nation and even around the world.
We need changes, not only to help the individuals in Baltimore who are struggling to get access to clean air. We need it not only to help people in different states who experience the same or worsened issues. We need change not only to help the communities of color that face heightened climate injustice, but for America to set a precedent for a global change and to give us a world to live in.
We must prioritize the safety and well-being of the people before supporting corporations that are simply looking to generate more money.
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