Don’t bug me!

That sounds like something between a couple of kids in the back seat of the car, but I’m thinking of another meaning for bug. They’ve been bothering me more this year. It’s not the mosquitos or flies. Not even the deer flies, although they are a significant annoyance as I hike through the woods. It’s the ticks.

Perhaps they annoy me more because they used to be rare here. I knew about ticks and had even encountered a couple over the course of my life. Now it’s not simply one or two. Currently we have the brief, mid-summer reprieve in their activity, but I know it won’t last long. Our pets get their medications. I do tick checks and have clothing treated with permethrin, which helps. Hiking with long sleeves and pants on a hot day is less comfortable, but it surely beats finding an attached critter later on.

Worse than the ticks themselves is the reason they are now so prevalent in our countryside: climate change. The warming of our world didn’t seem so bad when it meant I could actually get ripe tomatoes before the first frost here on the mountain. Now it’s clear it means much more. It means ticks, it means flash flooding, it means landslides and cratered roads. Less visible, it means diseased trees, questionable syrup production and unpredictable ski seasons. These consequences become economic for individuals, towns, and our state. It’s uncomfortable in our region where many homes or buildings lack air conditioning, where people must labor outdoors in heavy heat.

It seemed we were gradually starting to get a handle on this issue. Federal programs were supporting renewable energy and efficiencies, regulating carbon producers, incentivizing electric vehicles and heat pumps. Vermont enacted legislation to push us into a making more improvements locally. Yes, we were late. The environmental changes were already happening, but at least we were gaining some momentum to hopefully avoid the worst.

What now? Big, bad bills and simply recklessness and greed at the federal level are defunding and dismantling environmental protections while supporting environmental devastation. In Vermont, we have backed away from the necessary changes and progress we need to make, that we promised to make, just a few years ago. Too expensive is easy to say, but the costs will only compound at a rate we cannot even envision. We’re just a small state, so what good can we do? That’s also easy to say, but perhaps what we would have done is act as a model for others.

Now, faced with the federal changes, it begins to feel insurmountable. The ticks are an annoyance and a reminder. In truth, if they merely attached themselves, taking a bit of my blood, I could handle it. However, they bring diseases that can be uncomfortable, debilitating, and even fatal. That also is true with the climate change we are experiencing as a whole. Uncomfortable on a stretch of hot, humid days. Debilitating to many communities as roads, bridges, and homes wash out. Fatal to those swept away in the flood waters, the tornados, the wild fires.

If only it was simply those kids in the car, squabbling, until a parent says, “Stop it!” or pulls over to sort things out. Can we do that? Can we firmly say, “STOP IT!” and get it sorted? This is impacting all but the most elite in our country. Can’t we all come together and realize that? It’s not going to go away just because we choose to ignore it, choose to not pay the costs now before it is totally too late. I know fuel bills are expensive, but they are not going to decrease when we not only need to heat our homes all winter but also pay to cool them in summer. I know taxes can seem high, but how much more will they be when our roads and bridges and homes continue to wash downstream?

While it will take time to reverse the horrendous changes happening at the federal level, we can make the uncomfortable decisions in Vermont to do what we can. Those who have more resources can help to cover the costs (pay higher taxes) to shore up the ability of all of our residents and our communities to weather not just the occasional and unpredictable storm, but all the storms on the horizon that now are highly predictable. It impacts all of us. We can stand up to the biggest bloodsuckers in our nation, whether politicians, corporate owners, or pundits, and say “Stop! I’m pulling you off, getting rid of you and the damage, disease and despair for which you are responsible.” We all have a right to enjoy our woods, our fields, our country, our world without fear. Pray that the worst we have to deal with are the bugs.

Laurie Cox is a retired school counselor and longtime Ripton Selectboard member. Besides occasional writing she pursues art, gardening, hiking with her dog, and is always striving to build stronger communities.