seem to feel accountable for causing it, and even fewer feel responsible for fixing it. CODE RED is like a blip of news that quickly became buried in all the other daily news. More visible crises are forever on the front burner crowding it into the shadows — Afghanistan, COVID, wildfire, hurricanes, earthquakes, power outages. A global CODE RED disappears in the murk.

I am deeply appreciative of the organizations on the front line, trying to keep climate change on the agenda; the persistent voices of dedicated scientists; and the press coverage of our fire and flood crises that are the result of climate change.

But where is our collective sense of urgency that is worthy of a global CODE RED — that reflects the reality that time is running out for maintaining a planet that can support humanity? Somewhere buried in the physical infrastructure bill and the human infrastructure bill, and all the polling and dissecting, climate change remains the invisible issue. Specific solutions to slow down our rate of carbon emissions are less debated today by our elected leaders than issues of unemployment, eviction, the Taliban, day care, election laws, drinking water, minimum wage, choice, zoning, Hijabs, and of course, vaccinations.

I share the overwhelming sense of impotence about solving climate change (although, don’t forget last year when air traffic almost stopped and we could see the untracked beautiful blue sky). Huge institutional changes are needed, and needed yesterday. But one thing that seems important is that we as individuals look inward to our own responsibility and treat this as the crisis it is. If this was a declaration of war, our lifestyles would change immediately and dramatically. Imagine how they might change. And imagine what you might be willing to give up for the good of America – and the well-being of the planet. We hyper consumers share responsibility for the crisis. We are the most capable of forging solutions. But just this week we read of the upgrading of ski lifts in Gallatin County to provide warmed seats for the skiers.

Seriously? Why are we doing this? It is like thumbing one’s nose at CODE RED — not to mention ignoring the plight of the beautiful mountain location of these ski lifts, which is suffering so greatly from drought. Evidently we do not have the collective will to back off our unsustainable life style, even after a summer with smoke so thick we couldn’t even see the mountains.

For myself, I think of my family’s life style in my Bozeman youth, and I realize how much I can and am willing to give up, and can do without. We did just fine with one station wagon, a radio, a wall telephone, a moderate house, a tent, and cold seats on the chair lift, which we thought were pure luxury compared to the rope tow.

If called upon to save our planet, what are we willing to forego? More important, will we come together supporting leaders who will go to the mat on climate issues? Do we have the wherewithal to move into the slower lane?

Dorothy Bradley of Clyde Park grew up in Bozeman and was a Montana Representative for 8 sessions of the Legislature.
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