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Westfielder Invites Community to Climate Change Forum

'Our Climate: What Is Happening, Why & What We Can Do About It' will be presented from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Trailside Nature and Science Center. All are invited to attend the free program.

After losing two sizable trees during Hurricane Irene, Westfield resident Roslyn Harrison believed she had seen the worst devastation possible in the town where she's lived for the past four decades. 

Because she loves nature, Harrison said she spent "quite a bit of money" in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy to ensure that the trees surrounding her Boulevard home were pruned to remain "healthy and beautiful." Still, that effort was no match for the 50 mile-per-hour winds that blew through town in January and felled a tree so large it took a tree service 10 hours to remove it from Harrison's property.

"I began to wonder, I lived in that house for 43 years, and I’ve never been in a place with winds like that," she said. 

Shortly after that windstorm, Harrison said she began to do as much research as she could regarding climate change. She said she was particularly alarmed after reading an article in The New York Times that stated that carbon dioxide levels are at their highest since humans inhabited the planet. 

Calling climate change "the challenge of our generation," Harrison joined Organizing For Action because she said she "recognized that unless we get educated about the issue and demand that our congressman confront these challenges, we're in big trouble. If we don’t get control of this, our planet is going to be destroyed."

Motivated by all she has learned and eager to share it, Harrison, with OFA, has organized 'Our Climate: What Is Happening, Why & What We Can Do About It.' The program, featuring a presentation by Dr. Alan Robuck, a professor of environmental sciences at Rutgers University, will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Trailside Nature and Science Center. All are invited to attend the free program. 

Located at 452 New Providence Road in Mountainside, Harrison said the center, seating 250, provides the perfect setting for the forum, which will feature a panel, including a representative from the Sierra Club, detailing "action activities that work" toward effecting change. The event will also feature a 15-minute question-and-answer period.

Harrison said quick and easy ways to contact legislators will be discussed as will the importance of exploring wind farms and solar power and pressing Congress to impose fines on corporations emitting high levels of carbon dioxide.

Referencing a recent Op-Ed, 'A Republican Case for Climate Change,' in The New York Times, Harrison said, "This is not a partisan issue and it’s a problem for all of us. As responsible citizens, we need to figure out how to work together. We need determination and commitment to confront it and figure it out together. It has to be a joint effort because unless we citizens demand action, it’s not going to happen."    

For more information or to register, visit the group's Facebook page.


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