April 22nd, 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. This isn’t a celebration of how far we’ve come — it’s a reckoning about how far we have to go, how fast we need to act, and how bold we need to be.

For 50 years we’ve chosen just one day a year to rally around our common desire for clean air and water. It’s not enough.

Today we have a climate change denialist as president and our government is in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry; the EPA continuously rolls back and ignores environmental protections; we’re facing a public health crisis that makes those exposed to air pollution some of the most at-risk; the Earth has been on FIRE — from the Amazon, to Australia, to my home in California; scientists say we now have less than 11 years to slash our global emissions by more than half to avoid climate catastrophe.

The climate crisis is here and now and will only worsen. We now all know what crisis looks like, and we see how our government fails to handle it. We recognize who the most vulnerable are, we know we are treating essential workers as disposable without proper sick leave or livable wages, we see what cities look like without human-caused air pollution, we see the injustices and failures of this capitalistic system exposed.

If you take anything away from this crisis, as humanity has been brought to its knees, I hope it’s that radical change needs to happen.

Luckily every badass climate organizer I know has been thinking that for years. There is a place to learn more, connect what is happening to a bigger picture, and grow our collective power in demanding adequate direct aid now, a just recovery, and a livable future for all.

I won’t hesitate to say that this is the most important Earth Day in history. This must be the turning point.

Tune in for our programs on www.sbaearthday.com to be a part of the change we need to see in the world!

In solidarity,

Julia F.