Spoken by Loreley Godfrey at the Rally for Renewables on Saturday, March 12, 2022
Good afternoon.
My name is Loreley Godfrey and I’m 17 years old from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I am from Seacoast Students for Sustainability, a coalition of eco clubs across New Hampshire advocating for protecting our plant.
Earlier last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the second half of a report on our climate crisis. One of the main conclusions of the report is that climate adaptation is proceeding too slowly and measures are being implemented on too small a scale to address the major climate challenges we face.
Achieving a green transition is urgent – and the transition must be global. Over 270 top scientists from across the globe concluded that climate change is increasing the risk of local and even global extinctions of species & ecosystems. Around half of our world’s population live in areas highly vulnerable to climate change - New Hampshire and the Seacoast area among them.
Record temperatures & poor air quality this past summer sent New Hampshire residents scrambling to hospitals. Local businesses along the Seacoast are experiencing flooding. Up to a quarter of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is expected to be underwater by 2100 and 50% of New England ski resorts will close by 2050 from a lack of snow viability.
Whether or not our legislators believe in climate change, it is clear something needs to be done.
Our State has a responsibility to protect its vulnerable citizens, and the solution is clear. Make a climate action plan. Adopt renewable energy. Protect our livelihoods, our businesses, and our people.
Living in the Seacoast area, I want to draw your attention to an avenue of renewable energy. Off our coast, we have the highest amount of wind available in the country - so why aren’t we harnessing it? Why aren’t we creating green jobs?
We cannot let the adage of “too little too late” represent our response to the climate crisis. Right now, we can scrap tainted, hurtful, coal-based emissions in our state and shift tracks to clean and sustainable forms of energy.
The climate crisis has clear solutions and we need to enact them.
Our legislators need to stop sweeping renewable energy under the rug. If you want to take action beyond attending this rally, I urge you to call your legislators and tell them our state needs a climate action plan. Tell them they need to implement renewable energy. And tell them New Hampshire citizens will never stop fighting for the future of our planet.
Thank you.