Moms & Kids Play-In for Clean Air & Climate Action

What a daunting time to be a parent!  Choices we make individually and collectively are helping set the course for our children in unprecedented ways.  When we’re gone, will they be left with a livable planet? As with all parenting issues, a play group full of other supportive parents can be helpful.  This is my play group.

Before marching on the US Capitol grounds with signs and banners from several different states , we did what all play groups with small children do.  We gathered in the park.  Parachutes, balls, yoga stretching and pinwheels were all part of our morning of play. Some activities were organized for large groups of children.  Other times, kids did what they do best and simply enjoyed the outdoors.  Moms Clean Air Force invited families to join in from around the country for this historic Play-In for Climate Action.

Is clean air a partisan issue?  I hope not.  Clean Air Moms are what they coined Mompartisan, keeping front and center issues that are far too important to get muddled in partisanship.  Clean air and a livable planet that slows climate change is rather a moral issue.

The Reverend Carla Olds, a mother of thee from Richmond, Virginia, cited scripture to me from John 10:10 about abundant life. Her take on its relevance today?  “In order to have abundant life, it must start with clean air.”  The Good Shepherd not only discussed eternal life in passages of scripture.  He also said, “feed my sheep,” which many churches interpret as their call to feed the hungry.  How much more do we understand the important of clean air and a healthy environment for our communities today?

Nurse Katie Hepfling explained to the crowd in Washington from a health standpoint, “I recognize that clean air is essential for life.” Hepfling and the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments are one of many health-based organizations calling for clear and air in public policy decisions.  Excess particulate matter in the air and too much ground-level ozone mean more sick kids struggling with asthma and allergy problems.

I met other moms from New Hampshire and Illinois who share clean air and climate concerns.  I also heard a grandmother from California, Senator Barbara Boxer encourage all of the gathered families to remember the health focus and share the message, “We love our children too much to walk way from the climate change challenge!”

Our signs from Tennessee filled with concerned parents’ signatures and colorful children’s art, my family delivered our signs to our US Senators’ offices later that day.  We conveyed the hope that Senators Alexander and Corker from Tennessee will remember clean air and common sense when they have the chance to support the latest clean air initiatives.

For more information on extreme weather and climate change, check out this free ebook from Moms Clean Air Force.  Here are volumes of facts compiled by MCAF to help you explain the urgency of this issue to loved ones, friends and those who represent you in public office.

Kids and Moms from Moms Clean Air Force will be watching closely on Wednesday, July 23, both in person and here via webcast, when the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works meets to discuss the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to curb pollution and the related climate change.  If you’re interested in watching the hearing in person or just want to sign up for the latest MCAF news, get involved here.

Thanks to MCAF for helping make our time in Washington possible and for the chance to connect with so many other concerned parents who value clean air for our kids!

Next week in Flour Sack Mama’s series Green Goes Mainstream: could surprising coal industry plans become part of the solution to climate change?