By Beth Taylor-Wilson
“There is No Wealth on a Dead Planet.” So said a sign I saw at a recent climate rally full of young activists. That simple sentence has had me pondering its truth ever since. When our own Montana kids — the Held plaintiffs — argued their Constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment” and won their momentously groundbreaking case last summer, the consequences and legal ramifications rippled out across the world. As a climate activist, there are times when the sheer volume of bad news makes it hard to find optimism. But, I have been discovering it recently from the efforts and actions of the Held plaintiffs and other young Montanans.
A few weeks ago, there was a small ruckus outside my home in Missoula County after a nearby elementary school let out. Four or five young elementary school-aged children attempted a rescue of some baby ducklings on their way home from school. The boys were a team, talking to one another, working together, shooing away domestic cats and a curious golden retriever, all while gently trying to guide the duckling babies back to their frantic mamma. The family had become separated in an irrigation ditch by my house, and poor mamma duck had lost a couple of stragglers to the hazards along the way. Why a mother duck would choose an irrigation ditch as a home for her duckling babies says volumes about human encroachment into animal habitats everywhere. Mamma was flying up and down the ditch, very distraught, so one boy went right into the ditch with his shoes on to steer the babies back toward mom. Those boys cared about that duck family.
Members of another climate group I support recently kicked around the idea of staging a “mock” funeral for Glacier National Park’s vanishing, iconic namesake. According to some Flathead Valley members, several Columbia Falls high schoolers liked the idea and expressed interest in involvement. Those high school students care about our disappearing glaciers.
So, thanks to these young people who gave me back my optimism. Thanks again to the Held plaintiffs. And as an MEIC board member, all MEIC members owe gratitude and thanks to MEIC’s many young members and staffers, bringing wonderful ethics and smarts to the climate crisis. Finally, thanks to the many other young people in our beautiful state who care about much more than material wealth. They know, even if their parents don’t, that a healthy livable planet is far more important to their future than things money can buy. The Held case has educated many Montana parents and grandparents. Tremendous hope was expressed by the expert witnesses at the Held trial, whether it was by professors from Montana’s own flagship universities or the testimony of a world-renowned atmospheric scientist from Stanford. We can still save our planet and all the beings on it that enrich our lives daily. We can do it, together, with our children. And if you’re still looking for a gift suggestion for young Montana graduates, consider gifting an MEIC membership!
Beth Taylor-Wilson grew up in Missoula, which had some of the worst temperature-induced winter “inversion” air pollution in the country in the ’60s. Thanks to activists like the Gals Against Smog and Pollution (GASP), who numbered Beth’s mother as a member, Missoula’s air became far cleaner and healthier. Environmental activism and stewardship is in her family DNA, and Beth is honored to work with the state’s premier environmental watchdog.
This article was published in the July 2024 issue of Down To Earth.
