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As fire season approaches, Gig Harbor mom says “Enough!”
We all know it’s coming: fire season.
All year long, Gig Harbor-ites look forward to the summer months, when we can be outside and relish the beauty of living in the PNW. When summer arrives, I find myself sighing with relief: finally, my children can play outside!
But it has come to be an unofficial expectation that our summer season will be disrupted by smoke and fires. Whether the wind pushes smoke up from fires in California or down from Canada, our harbor town is directly affected by the climates of our connected regions.
Climate change is a concrete example that what happens globally affects families locally. Increasing climates across the globe threaten our national security, wound our local economy, stretch vulnerable American families beyond reason.
By 2070, over 4 million Americans will be living in conditions that will struggle to support daily human life, according to Pro Publica. And that number will exponentially rise, as people globally are forced to migrate due to climate stress. According to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, “roughly 90 percent of refugees come from countries that are the most vulnerable and least ready to adapt to the impacts of climate change.”
Not to mention the costs of climate disaster response. Extreme weather cost the U.S. $165 billion in 2022 alone, according to NPR. In Washington state alone, with the projected rise in sea levels, our state is estimated to spend $24 billion to protect coastline communities. Our city’s own Jerisich Dock comes to mind. A vivid image Gig Harbor residents know well is of the king tides seeping over the Jerisich Park wall last year, with water making it all the way all the way up to the park picnic tables and benches. These abnormal tides directly damage our downtown parks, restaurants, and historic maritime buildings.
But, with preventative measures and investing in Foreign Assistance, our country, and our pocketbooks, can get ahead of this bipartisan problem.
Currently, only about 1% of our federal budget is spent on Foreign Assistance. A surprising number, since the U.N. reports that for every $1 invested in climate action, $4 will be gained in benefits. And this number is in danger of being cut even more, with a recent report stating an almost 31% cut to the SFOPs budget.
Climate change is not just simply about our climate. By investing in foreign assistance, we are ensuring stable environments overseas. And, as we have dramatically learned from the pandemic, what happens overseas finds its way to affecting us here at home. Climate, as well as pandemics, knows no borders.
“Fire season” should not be. It’s easy to take the beauty of our harbor town granted — until you see it engulfed in smoke. Climate action through foreign assistance matters for the stability of our world and country, the health of our Gig Harbor community, and the daily life of my family. I strongly urge our congressional leaders to support robust foreign assistance funding. It’s not just the right thing to do, but the smart thing.
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