\u201cThe thought of structuring my life \u2013 my use of limited time, resources, physical and mental energy, and capacity \u2013 to devote it to normal American things, to give them so much time that they distract and detract from trying to make the world better, seems foolish. To structure my life assuming the planet will be as livable in 50 years as it is today, IS foolish.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this point, all of these decisions are contextualized by a suffering planet and the reality of human-caused climate change. They are contextualized by the fact that we are all living during the collective dying breath of the human species. They are contextualized by one very important question. A question that, if you understand the reality we face, you will hear being asked by the figurative lips taking that dying breath: is the human species a failed experiment<\/strong>?<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if the trajectory of global climate change remains unaltered by the (very short-term) future, it seems inescapable that the answer is yes.<\/p>\n \u201cUNLESS:<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Unless.<\/strong> That is how my previous column ended. With a single word, \u201cunless\u201d, that was drowned in the darkness and depth of the context of impending climate catastrophe; drowned by the emotional weight of the words that preceded it. If the trajectory of global climate change remains unaltered, it seems true that the human species is a failed experiment. Unless.<\/strong><\/p>\n The first part of that statement was borrowed from Charles Dickens\u2019 more general appeal to people\u2019s basic moral goodness. But that powerful, heartfelt, single word came from Dr. Seuss\u2019s The Lorax; unlike Dickens, Seuss was very much talking about the wholesale destruction of the environment when he penned that single, powerful word in his masterpiece.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve gotten more than a few messages from regular readers, asking that I make sure to follow up that previous column with one that was more optimistic about our prospects for solving climate change; praying that \u201cUnless\u201d would have adequate depth \u2013 a plan, a strategy, some good news, a ray of optimism.<\/p>\n I guess you could say that it does. Or rather, that it might. The warnings that I gave in the previous column were real, are real; that is the trajectory that we are currently on.<\/p>\n But it isn\u2019t the one we have to stay on. If we want to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis, if we want to ensure that disadvantaged people around the world don\u2019t suffer more than they already have as a result of our greed and negligence, if we want to prevent our children and grandchildren from becoming climate refugees, we need to organize together and fight.<\/p>\n We need to fight, and we need to win<\/strong>. The best and most up-to-date science gives us 10 to 12 years to drastically reduce our society\u2019s fossil carbon dioxide output if we want to avoid the worst effects of climate change. And that is within reach. Is our species a failed experiment? The answer depends on us.<\/p>\n First off, we need to stop acting as if everything is fine, and will be fine in the future. It\u2019s not, and won\u2019t be. We all \u2013 including you \u2013 have to internalize that fact, and allow yourself to freak out once you fully understand it. We\u2019re in the process of risking our own extinction so that a couple of oil, coal, and gas billionaires can get really rich. It isn\u2019t OK that they are choosing to do that, and circumvent most efforts thus far to stop using fossil fuels.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s also not OK that regular people are by and large sitting by, acting like things are fine. Because they aren\u2019t fine. So internalize the existential threat yourself, and then go out and evangelize to your friends, family, and people on the street. What will it look like for an individual and community to truly undergo this transformation? When it isn\u2019t more acceptable for people to make the decision to stay at home, watching TV, instead of attending a big climate rally or testifying on an important carbon reduction bill. That\u2019s when.<\/p>\n Next, we need people and politicians to stop treating climate change as a political issue. Many on both sides of the aisle are guilty of this, and it\u2019s my opinion that a lukewarm D who doesn\u2019t act on the issue \u2013 or uses lip service on climate change as a political tool \u2013 is more dangerous than a fervent R who denies the issue altogether.<\/p>\n And finally, and this is the most exciting part: we have to fight for change! Broadly, that should look like throwing anything and everything at the wall, so to speak, to see what sticks. So fight for carbon pricing and mandatory and enforceable carbon reduction goals; and attend rallies and protests and actions; and badger your elected officials; go to meetings of climate groups and get heavily involved (trust me, there will always be enough work to go around); talk about climate change with your loved ones and in public as if it\u2019s on the forefront of your mind\u2026and keep climate change on the forefront of your mind.<\/p>\n More specifically, we have to fight for a Green New Deal on all levels of government. This plan encompasses a cultural and political shift, and would include investments in green jobs and renewable energy development and the decarbonization of all aspects of our economy. It would create jobs and revitalize the U.S. economy while solving climate change simultaneously. This fight is just beginning, but is gaining traction and will be enough to save us from the worst effects of climate change.<\/p>\n If my optimism about our chances for success isn\u2019t apparent, you should know that I am beaming as I\u2019m writing this. This is the best chance we have at addressing the climate crisis, and we are going to win.<\/p>\n Now, I deliberately left out the rest of Dr. Seuss\u2019s quote earlier in this column for the dramatic effect of a lone word, but here and now, it\u2019s much more appropriate. \u201cUnless\u201d, he said; \u201cUnless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n We are going to win. But we need you. I need you<\/strong>. Email me and let\u2019s talk.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This column originally appeared in The Woonsocket Call under The Urban Farmer, a project of CARI’s Politics Chair, Alex Kithes. It is reprinted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is the human species a failed experiment? If the trajectory of global climate change remains unaltered by the (very short-term) future, it seems inescapable that the answer is yes.
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