In America’s Heartland, Discussing Climate Change Without Saying ‘Climate Change’ BY HIROKO TABUCHI

Summary of Article: The article focuses on the connection between climate change and the current political controversy. Tabuchi provides examples of how we should take action and educate about climate change rather than follow what Donald Trump is doing and deny it or push it to the side. The article touches on farmers from the plains who focus on their farming and ignore the political controversy behind it, authors and journalists who publish work regarding climate change and really publicize the issue, teachers and professors who are incorporating climate change into their lectures without alienating those who are skeptical. In providing these examples, it shows that we can make a difference if we work collectively to fight this issue rather than waiting on the president to make a move.

Kansas farmer Doug Palen with soil from his land

“See how it’s firm and holds together?” he said. “See how it doesn’t break down into goo?” Almost 1.7 billion tons of topsoil are blown or washed off croplands a year, according to the Department of Agriculture, resulting in billions of dollars in losses for farmers. Farmers such as Palen who keep their soil healthy and covered reduces evaporation by up to 80% which helps conserve water.

Carl Priesendorf, a science teacher at Metropolitan Community College has started to discuss climate without alienating skeptics.

The content in this article is very noteworthy because it shows how we can make an effort towards the problem that is climate change without helplessly waiting and hoping that President Trump and his administration will take action towards it. The steps that are needed to address this problem are listed throughout the article. Fighting and arguing over whether or not climate change is a problem will not solve anything, taking action and educating ourselves about why this is happening and what we can do individually is a big step to make a change.

My takeaway from this article was that waiting for Trump and his administration to take action towards climate change is not productive. Whether he addresses the problem or not, we each can still individually help and begin to fight climate change. I hope to learn more about this issue after Trump proposes new laws regarding the environment and climate. Donald Trump, the man who believes that climate change is a "hoax made by the Chinese" will not do too much to address this problem, I would imagine. So I'm curious to see how these new laws will affect farmers and their quality of work

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