44 | January 2023
stories of pregnant mothers having
to evacuate to relatives' homes hun-
dreds of miles away in order to protect
their growing babies from the potential
health harms of wildfire smoke. For far
too many families, wildfires are chang-
ing the terrain of everyday life in fright-
ening, stressful ways.
Taking in more bad news about
climate-driven weather extremes
is daunting—even learning about
the increasing impacts of wildfires
can trigger climate anxiety, even for
those of us who might not be directly
affected. But for me, it can help to think
of information like new research on
wildfires as a call to action. I may not
be able to protect all the people I love
from the physical and mental health
effects of wildfires, but I can choose to
advocate for policies that can mitigate
future climate warming and increase
our resilience to the climate challenges
we'll inevitably face.
And so can you: if you haven't yet,
join Moms Clean Air Force in fighting
for our kids' right to breathe clean air.
There's a lot of work ahead of us, but
none of us must do this work alone.
LEARN MORE ABOUT WILDFIRES
AND YOUR HEATH
Elizabeth Bechard of Durham, NC, is
senior policy analyst for Moms Clean
Air Force. She is also a health coach,
author, former clinical research coor-
dinator, and a public health graduate
student at the London School of Hy-
giene and Tropical Medicine. After be-
coming a mother, Elizabeth became
passionate about the intersection be-
tween climate change and family resil-
ience. She is the author of Parenting
in a Changing Climate: Tools for Cul-
tivating Resilience, Taking Action, and
Practicing Hope in the Face of Climate
Change. Her work with Moms Clean
Air Force has been featured in U.S.
News & World Report, Reader's Di-
gest, Forbes, the Charlotte Observer,
and Chapelboro and on Good Morn-
ing America and the Hope. Act. Thrive
podcast.
MOMS Clean Air Force
continued from previous page
TELL CONGRESS:
HELP YOUNG PEOPLE COPE WITH CLIMATE ANXIETY
