Climate change is a threat that will face us all within our generation. From what was expected to be the problem of the next generation has quickly (and quietly) shifted to ours. According to NASA we’re already locked into a three foot sea-level rise. This is for certain, we can’t undo that part. In an attempt to thwart the anthropogenic aspects of climate change, the United Nations held a conference in 2015 (Paris Agreement) to come to an international agreement to keep the CO2 levels in the atmosphere stable and limit the atmospheric temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Sadly though, as of March 7th, the CO2 levels have already been surpassed, it was measured at 406 ppm. As you can probably guess too, the top two countries with the highest CO2 emissions are China and the US. Under the Paris Agreement, the US and China would significantly curb the emissions, potentially rescuing a dire situation. But as new concerns rise over the possibility of the US pulling out of the agreement, (one that Russia has yet to sign), our emissions are at risk to do anything but drop. So what can you, a highschool student do? Small things like choosing to buy things that are reusable, rather than recyclable or disposable, reducing food that is being put into a landfill by starting a composter (or a worm composter!), and using cloth or reusable shopping bags rather than paper or plastic. Though small, these things do matter, more than you’d think!
Life After the Phoenixes Reveal Road to THE WEDDING (Tommy’s Point of View) By: Kim Clifford
“Hey Tiger-boy. Good to hear from you.” “Hey Trini. Look I wish this was a social call but I just tried to call Jase and got his voicemail, I was hoping he was there with you. ” I asked. “I’m sorry Tommy, he’s not. He’s actually in Reefside with Kim” “Why are they in Reefside? Are they looking for me.” “No, um, they’re looking for Kim’s daughters that she gave up 14 years ago.” “That much I know. The lady who adopted them, she showed me a picture of Kim and said she was Kira and Emma’s mom but that they could never match face to name. She showed me the picture because they were put in my foster care yesterday because of an abusive adoptive brother and father” “Look Tommy, what I’m about to say I wasn’t supposed to tell you till Kim was ready, but those little girls, Kira and Emma, you’re their Dad.” Thinking back to the day I found out I was a father, I was pissed at my Crane. I was pissed at my team. I was scared about the thoughts of my children when they found out I’m their biological father and if they’d think I’d abuse them like their adopted family. I was scared of Jason and the boys about what they had thought of their “little sister” being impregnated at 17 by their leader when they found out over the last 14 years. I, leader of three teams, part of 2 others, and the mentor to the most powerful fairy princess ever, a father. Never in my life did I think that I would have such brave, beautiful, smart, and strong children. Ever since I got The Letter, I never thought I would be whole again. I was missing a piece of myself, but when I was reunited with my Beautiful Crane, I knew what had been missing. And now, 6 years later. I’m complete. I have the love of my life by my side, my eldest are 20, and I have 16 kids under the age of 5. My life couldn’t be better. My only neighbors were the people in our exclusive society. “Thomas, get your head out of the clouds. Kim and Kimberly will kill both of us if you’re late to your own wedding,” I hear Jason, my best man and 2nd in command. “I’m not gonna be late, and my Crane wouldn’t kill me. She wouldn’t want to be in charge of 18 kids herself. And Kim won’t kill me because I’m her mentor. You on the other hand are not safe so let’s go.” We walk out of Jason’s room to where the others are waiting. We signaled for them to follow us and went to the limo. “Nervous, Captain Technicolor?” Rocky asks. “Nope, I’ve been preparing for this moment for 22 years. And the only reason it hasn’t been 23 years is because it took me till I lost my powers to get the guts to ask her out” “Did you get the guts before or after you kissed her when she went to see you at the Rock by the lake?” Zack asked. “Shut it Zackary. You know as well as I do the reason we kissed prior to me asking her to the dance is when I was originally gonna ask her we were attacked by putties.” “So started the pattern, that all big moments in your relationship. You’re attacked by the current enemy,” Billy quipped. “Don’t jinx him on his wedding day. I’m the young one and even I know that,” Justin laughs. All the boys from my teams were in the wedding. Each of them had a basic black tux. The ties and cummberbunds were in the color the person held. If he held multiple colors, his tie was one color and his cummberbunds were the other. I’m wearing a basic black tux with a white shirt that is striped with skinny green lines. I also have a red tie and red cummberbunds. Somehow the girls managed to incorporate all my colors. Sometimes being the “Greatest Ranger Ever” doesn’t have it’s perks. I can still hear Kimberly screaming at the candle store over the phone. “Excuse me. In my order I specifically said no green candles, only green candle holders. I demand a refund or exchange.” “Honestly, I have the order in my hand. Don’t think I won’t take you to court. You know what I’m done with you. Put your supervisor on the phone NOW,” “Hello, I have my order phone in my hand. It specifically says no green candles, only green candle holders. I was at my venue an hour and 11 minutes ago and their are green candles. I would like to exchange them for other candles or I won’t hesitate to take you to court. I can have the best lawyer in the country on my side in a case within minutes. She’s my niece.” “Thank you.” “Tommy, what’s got you laughing,” Jason snaps me out of my thought. “Nothing, just thinking about Kimberly going all Pink ranger on the candle store worker because they delivered green candles. She went ballistic on the lady. She even threatened to take them to court. Talking about how Ashley is her niece.” That got the guys laughing. “Sounds like our Little Sis” The boys said in unision. They Jase continued the sentence. “She’s been scaring people crazy since 1982” “Watch it, you know she can hear things like a bird right dude?” Rocky asks. Looking out the window, seeing the scenery unfold, I’m reminded how lucky I am to have a family so large and close as mine. 145 of us all living in one neighborhood. None of it could have been possible without them. I wouldn’t be fighting on the side of good if it wasn’t for Jason. If Zack hadn’t been there, wiping my ass that day at the Youth Center I wouldn’t have had the courage to ask Kimberly to the dance, if it wasn’t for Billy and Trini inventions I wouldn’t be alive or been able to save my team if they were captured. Rocky and Adam were my support system after the Letter. Kat and Tanya tried to make me laugh, make me smile again after the Letter, but no one could. Justin, well Justin, he was a welcome distraction. A younger brother of sorts. Someone who needed the love of this family, and the feeling of belonging that comes with it. If it wasn’t for these people surrounding me now, as well as the rest of my family, I’d be lost with no direction. Still trying to escape a sea of darkness, clawing my way out of a lava pit. “What was that Jase,” They snap me out of my thoughts when we hit a bump in the road. “I asked you for a high five and you didn’t give me one. What is going on in that multi-colored head of yours” He replies. “Sorry Jase, didn’t mean to leave you hanging again” “Eh, at least this time were both on the side we belong. Not transporting to a mythical dimension, or dangling over the side of a lava pit in the middle of an enchanted island.” “Hey, it’s the man’s wedding day, a.k.a. the most highly anticipated wedding in our family. The past is the past. No bringing up bad memories, no matter how much you can just brush it off and laugh,’ Adam, always one to be sentimental, said. “I’m with Adam. Now, I’d actually like to know what’s going on in that head of yours” Zack said. “Just thinking,” I replied. “About,” Billy asks. “About how lucky I am to have a place to belong. About how lucky I am to have the family I have. How thankful I am that I know you guys will always be there to save me and vice-versa.”
“So, you’re not thinking about what you and Kim will be doing later,” Rocky, the ultimate class clown, joked “I’m thinking about how lucky I am to get to marry my Beautiful Crane, the love of my life, if that’s what you mean,” I say with a pointed look. Rocky put his hands over his head, surrendering and leaving the dirty jokes for another time. I turn my head to the window and see the gate of the venue. We drive the next 200 feet in silence. When the limo stops, the driver opens the door and we file out. We joke and we laugh. When the men’s tent comes into view, at the bottom of the hill, Rocky gets one of his wacky, class-clown ideas. “Make way, make way. The king has arrived. Let the man through. He is the greatest leader of this society,” he shouts as he runs down the hill.