McGinnis letter: Climate change

The recent agreement of 195 nations in Paris to reduce carbon emissions is a milestone in beginning to slow our headlong plunge into environmental and social chaos. The commitments are about 50 percent less than many scientists say are needed, but the commitments are 50 percent more than we had before the agreement. Some countries will not meet their pledges, some countries will. The milestone in the agreement is that 195 counties seriously agreed that climate change must be acted upon. But nations making commitments is not the only or the most important action needed to slow climate change. The most important action needs to be made by me and you. We need to change our lifestyles. We need to eliminate our support of corporations that are fueling climate change. We need to change our consumption patterns to minimize our energy and water use. We need to restore, reuse, repurpose, recycle and stop the cycle of waste. We need to help people and creatures that are suffering from current climate changes and changes that are coming. None of these individual actions call for drastic sacrifice — only a few changes in the way we live and a little more love.

This story was originally published December 31, 2015 at 4:38 PM with the headline "McGinnis letter: Climate change."