When I go outdoors, on a beautiful day (today is an example — white snow glistening in the sun and the perfect blue sky, birds sharing their melodies to improve our moods), I forget how I take these earthly treasures for granted.

I am a boomer and boomers sometimes get a bad rap for not caring about the environment because we won’t be around to suffer the consequences of environmental mismanagement. Nothing could be further from the truth for me and my boomer buddies. And our hearts are breaking when we hear “Drill baby drill” and other anti-environment venom.

The government is obviously not going to solve our problems, so we need to take responsibility, right here and right now. Think of it this way — if we exploit our limited resources, our children and grandchildren will no longer have those resources. End of story!

However, if we make a concerted effort to conserve, natural resources will continue to be available. As caring, compassionate people, each individual can make small differences that will add up. Make a commitment to take care of our Earth. Buy less new stuff, waste less food, drive less, move more and do whatever we can to protect the marvelous riches we have on this planet. Let’s not give up, even though dark forces seem to have won a battle for now.

So, whether people believe in climate change or not, remember to treat our Earth with the respect it deserves.

Regi Robnett
Portland