I remember vividly the last time I saw my fellow Sustainable Newton Board members in person, on the evening of March 9, gathered around a table in our usual meeting room at First Presbyterian Church of Covington.

Three days earlier, 21 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed on a cruise ship off the California coast, and the disease had reached a nursing home in Washington state.  But the World Health Organization had yet to declare a pandemic. 

Still, I recall the awkward silence when a colleague sneezed several times.  "Bless you," we said out loud, but our body language was a little more complicated.  We adjourned at the end of the meeting without saying so, but I suspected we might not see each other again for a month or two.

And, then, all Hell broke loose.

For anyone paying even the slightest attention to climate news, these are difficult days not to run screaming from the building.  Then again, this summer, outside is no place to be.

From unprecedented dual hurricanes Laura and Marco striking the US gulf coast last month to the scorching heat and raging wildfires now impacting California and Oregon,  we're inundated with news about extreme weather caused by Climate Change.

Throw in Siberian temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit and collapsing arctic ice shelves in Canada, and it's a little hard to remain hopeful.

OK, nearly impossible.  But, still, hope is not lost.

By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President

"Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."

As I struggle to express my emotions in these socially-distanced, mostly virtual times, Joni Mitchell's lyrics jump to mind.  Though now it's less about paving paradise than putting it under glass.  Or, perhaps, it's we who are under glass.

Has anyone else watched a television show or a movie recently and felt alarmed by scenes of people standing close together -- perhaps even <gasp!> shaking hands or putting a hand on a shoulder?  Now, it's The Police I hear singing "Don't stand.  Don't stand.  Don't stand so close to me."  It's the same way when I look back at photos of past Sustainable Newton events.

By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President

Full disclosure:  I'm going to ask for money.  So, I owe an explanation of why you should give to Sustainable Newton.  But, if you're in a hurry or already convinced, just visit our Giving page.  Or look for more information on how to contribute, become a member, etc. on our Connect page.

For those still reading, I've got good news and bad news.  But, we can do something about the bad, which is why we need your help.

The good:  Every day, more Americans agree climate change is happening, that it's caused at least partly by human behavior, and we need to do something about it.  This is true even in Newton County, where the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication published the following findings about climate attitudes: