Local View: In climate emergency, let's embrace our 'better angels' - Duluth News Tribune

Local View: In climate emergency, let's embrace our 'better angels' - Duluth News Tribune | News, weather, and sports from Duluth, Minnesota

Local View: In climate emergency, let's embrace our 'better angels'

From the column: "In Duluth, we're becoming more aware every day that our city is not immune. ... More high-temperature records are being broken, and more microplastics are in Lake Superior."

On March 4, 1861, the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, was giving his first inaugural address on the eve of the Civil War. In a moment of uncertainty about the country's future, Lincoln said: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

In his article, “Better Angels In Our Past,” David Blankenhorn wrote about Lincoln and others in history who, through their speeches, essays, and sermons, shared the theme of better angels.

In 1851, the Rev. Frederic D. Huntington preached in Cambridge, Massachusetts, saying, “With every wanton denial of our purer aspirations, those aspirations themselves grow faint. Resistance to our better angels drives those angels away.” Huntington and others were talking about the virtues of unity, friendship, and good conscience as people were being challenged by selfishness, fear, divisiveness, and what Blankenhorn referred to as the “dullness of spirit.”

As CEO of Habitat for Humanity, Jonathan Reckford wrote the book, “Our Better Angels,” in which he shared stories of volunteers and homeowners with the Habitat program who embodied and practiced what Reckford called the seven virtues: kindness, joy, respect, community, empowerment, generosity, and service. In the preface to this book, Jimmy Carter wrote that these virtues must live within each of us and that through them we can become “instruments of change.”

This winter, we’ve read about heat waves in the Arctic, how the Midwest is experiencing its warmest winter on record, that Barcelona is running out of water, about the instability of the Greenland landscape, and that Nigeria is facing intense heat waves and widespread power outages. Around the world, millions of people are being confronted with numerous climate crises and challenges.

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Here in Duluth, we're becoming more aware every day that our city is not immune or exempt from climate change. More high-temperature records are being broken, and more microplastics are in Lake Superior. There also have been more air quality alerts, severe droughts, public health concerns, and young people experiencing climate anxiety and depression.

And, just several days ago, we read in the News Tribune that because of warmer temperatures and more droughts we are experiencing longer growing seasons where tree-eating insects and budworms are spreading throughout the state's forests and leaving dead trees that could contribute to major wildfires.

While some of us don't want to think or talk about climate change, and others believe there are more important issues to deal with, maybe our city should ask itself how we can embrace our better angels to address this climate emergency. How can we embody such virtues as community, service, and generosity to build a more resilient, sustainable, and environmentally just city?

Now, almost 163 years after Lincoln's inaugural address, we are facing another moment of uncertainty in Duluth and around the world. It's the uncertainty of climate change and how it will impact our city's future and all of our lives.

For those of us who live and work in this city by the lake, will we choose selfishness, fear, and dullness of spirit when it comes to addressing climate change? Or will we choose to face this uncertainty and challenge in our city by listening to our better angels every day? Will we choose to embrace these virtues as we figure out how to move forward? Or will we turn our backs on the greater good and walk away from what could make Duluth an inviting and inspiring city on the hill?

In her book, “Practicing New Worlds,” Andrea J. Ritchie wrote, “We must step beyond what we know to experiment with, build, and practice new ways of being in relationship with each other and the planet.”

Can Duluth step beyond how we've always done things and begin experimenting with new ways to live with our better angels? Can we prioritize helping those vulnerable populations which will be severely impacted by climate change? Can we consider the greater good when making political and economic decisions that impact everyone and our environment? Can we understand that a healthy ecosystem is paramount to a healthy economy?

Reflecting on the Rev. Huntington's sermon and on Reckford’s experiences with Habitat for Humanity, we have to ask: Are we going to deny our purer aspirations and resist our better angels? Or will we embrace the better angels of our nature and face this climate emergency as positive and affirming instruments of change?

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Tone Lanzillo is a member of the Duluth/365 initiative on climate change and a regular contributor to the News Tribune Opinion page. He can be reached at risson1954@gmail.com.

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