There Is No Planet B

April is Earth Month, and this April 22nd will see our 55th celebration of Earth Day. For us and the rest of the world, Earth Day 2025 may be the most important one yet, given the recent dramatic shift in our government’s environmental priorities. Here in the U.S., the EPA, FEMA, NIH, and NOAA staff are being decimated, and invaluable scientific research and important safety regulations are being terminated. But the Earth still needs our help. This is the time for everyone to become personally engaged in contributing to the sustainability of our planet and our communities—for ourselves and especially for our future generations.

For a long time, one of the principal drivers of change toward more environmentally friendly behavior has been ‘rule-making’ by our governments. Environmentalists have often sought to influence government power to affect the environment with national lobbying and motivating the public to vote environmentally.

Whether by carrots or sticks, the environmental movement since the Clean Air Act of the 1960s and the 1970s-era Clean Water Act has often focused on federal and state governmental action in support of addressing local challenges and opportunities. Some of the sticks were things like fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, smokestack pollution limits, sewer-water pollution prevention, and legal structures that allowed for redress by communities. Some of the carrots were tax breaks for clean energy implementations, whether buying and installing a solar roof on your home or recently buying electric-powered vehicles, as well as tax breaks for donating or bequeathing lands as a natural reserve, etc.

Sadly, but perhaps realistically, for the next several years, our leaders in all categories who are supporting sustainable communities and a healthy planet will need to find more imaginative ways to mitigate the harm from climate/weather change, the excesses of consumerism, and the side effects of industrialization through local and regional actions.

Unfortunately, environmental action will now vary from state to state and from region to region. The lower Merrimack River Valley and other New England coastal communities face increasing sea level rise and the likelihood of direct hits by massive storm systems. Wildfires a few miles from the coast are increasing and will continue to do so.

While local communities can continue to strengthen opportunities to be greener, resilient, and sustainable by proactive planning, more collaboration is needed to have more regional impact. Earth Month provides a potential flashpoint to commit to addressing the processes needed to focus on achieving important 2050 climate goals. At the same time, each of us can continue to engage with or become engaged in joining and/or supporting local organizations in our cities and towns that are doing work that is important to us.

We encourage you to get involved and double down on your efforts personally to support them in any way that you can. Many of our elected officials will continue working in ways to increase good, larger-scale environmental frameworks. But while that work plays out, we must be taking action by doing things locally and collaboratively—essential if we are to have sustainable communities for future generations. Everyone connected to our Alliance invites you to become engaged. Plant pollinator gardens, participate in beach and roadside cleanups, compost your organic waste, drive less, insulate your home if it needs it, test-ride a MeVa bus, and grow/buy more food locally. We need to do all that and more as we continue to think globally, but work locally and act personally to make every day Earth Day.

You are invited to join Earth Month events throughout the region HERE. On April 19th, there will be an Earth Day Celebration at Newburyport’s Market Square. We hope Greater NBPT will show up, stand up, speak up, and sign up on behalf of the Earth and our children’s children. And maybe sing along to Woody Guthrie’s song about our land.

ACES believes we can make a BIG difference together. Team members invite you to stay updated on environmental matters by subscribing to our monthly newsletter via the “Join Our List” link on this page. Please consider joining our community of stewards who are committed to Make Every Day Earth Day by contacting acesnewburyport@gmail.com.

This educational column first appeared in The Daily News of Newburyport on March 28, 2025.