Earth Ministry member Sara Cate wrote this Op-Ed for the Yakima Herald calling for immediate action on climate change. In the article, Sara, a doctor in Yakima, discusses her own experiences treating patients who are suffering due to the smoke in the air from wildfires burning across western North America. In the article, she says that “As a family physician, I believe that prevention is more cost-effective than treatment. This summer we have had a glimpse of our future if we fail to act. Regardless of what you believe, decreasing the burning of oil, gas and coal will benefit both our health and most likely our climate.” At Earth Ministry/Washington Interfaith Power and Light, we are so grateful for our members who are speaking out against the burning of fossil fuels and standing up for climate action, and happy to support their efforts to care for God’s creation.
“Why We Must Act on Climate”
By Sara Cate
The Yakima Herald
September 8, 2017
I don’t recall a summer in which I felt such concern daily wondering when the smoke would clear — first, with the wildfires in British Columbia that blanketed the region earlier in the summer and now with the Norse Peak and Jolly Mountain fires.
My thoughts move to my patients — children with asthma and elderly patients with underlying lung problems, as well as the young firefighters, construction, and farm workers who have to work long days outside. The particulates in this smoke along with days of triple-digit temperatures pose real and significant health hazards. (continued…)
To read Sara’s entire Op-Ed, please click here.