Church members hear about effects of climate change on SCV

Ryan Mancini/The Signal Following Sunday services, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Santa Clarita listened as SCOPE President Lynne Plambeck provided background on the effects of climate change across the state of California and discussed how to adapt to some of those changes in a presentation at the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center. SCOPE is the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment.
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With an outlook toward action, members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Santa Clarita Valley watched a presentation and discussed the effects of climate change at the SCV Senior Center on Sunday.

Presented by Lynne Plambeck, president of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment, or SCOPE, church members stayed after morning services to hear about climate change’s impact on the Santa Clarita Valley and steps each person can take to leave a greener footprint.

Plambeck described the differences between weather and climate, followed by projected consequences of rising temperatures and a decreased water supply. This will mean increased fire activity, reduced reservoirs and an increase in tree deaths.

“It’s just that sometimes people get very overwhelmed, and when they get overwhelmed with it, there’s two ways to address it,” she said. “They turn it off and pretend it’s not happening or they throw up their hands and say, ‘It’s so overwhelming; I can’t do anything about it.’ I wanted to get some energy about what can we do, even on a small scale, so we can take the right steps forward. We can do the right actions.”

Steps to take include reducing the use of plastic bags and air conditioning, as well as adapting to the use of electric cars and implementing non-flammable exteriors to housing. Church member Lucy Bates added that people ought to monitor and limit the mileage on their cars if they can’t make the change to drive electric vehicles.

“If everyone moved the dial down and were mindful every day, that’s where it can start,” Bates said.

Though most of the congregation that stayed consisted of older members, the group’s efforts to address climate change reaches across different ages. Plambeck said she’s seen millennials take initiative, including two younger members on the SCOPE board of directors.

“There is such a generation gap,” she said. “The older people don’t do Facebook, the younger ones don’t do email. So it’s like you have to do both things.”

The church’s presentations and discussions are held on the fifth Sunday of each month. The Senior Center does not host these presentations, as the church rents the space.

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