“The good news is that the impacts of climate change are no longer deniable,” Penn State climate scientist Michael E. Mann said recently. “The bad news is that the impacts of climate change are no longer deniable.” Over the two decades preceding Dr. Mann’s good-news/bad-news pronouncement, when what reasonably seemed like a dire existential threat wasn’t quite getting the public attention it arguably merited (on account of, we later learned, orchestrated misinformation campaigns by Exxon and others), I was doing whatever I thought I could for the cause: swapping out my lightbulbs, carrying reusable grocery bags, voluntarily opting for a greater percentage of renewable energy sources from my local utility. And I looked to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, having voted for him in 2000 and been inspired anew by An Inconvenient Truth, for direction—and certainly for hope.
So, when I decided to do more than simply recycle and make the occasional donation to a green group—when I sought to become an environmental activist—I knew instantly the organization I wanted to join: Vice President Gore’s Climate Reality Project. I applied to the Climate Reality Leadership Corps, and was trained by Mr. Gore in 2018.
Since that time, I’ve had no shortage of opportunities to participate in climate rallies hundreds of thousands strong (in Downtown L.A. and New York), take meetings with elected officials (also in both L.A. and New York), give public presentations, and directly help to bring U.S. counties—including our most populous—into the County Climate Coalition, a nationwide alliance of jurisdictions committed to upholding the standards of the Paris Accord. The Climate Reality Leadership Corps has opened a world of opportunities—of hope—for me.
And along the way something unexpected began to happen: Just as I had looked to Mr. Gore for hope—and still do—people in my life started looking to me for reasons to be hopeful. They’ve seen the coverage of climate change–caused catastrophes that have been (at long last) dominating the headlines, heard repeatedly about something called a “Green New Deal,” and—right here in L.A.—choked on the acrid, ember-speckled smoke literally right outside their front door. Friends and relatives have contacted me asking what can be done about climate change (a lot), or where they might move to avoid the worst effects of it (alas, we are all in the sacrifice zone now), and—most tellingly—if there’s any cause left for optimism on this crisis.
There is.
GREEN NEW DEALS—PLURAL
Cities, counties, and states, rightfully impatient with partisan gridlock in Washington, are leading the way with their own ambitious versions of a Green New Deal. Last year, New York City passed the Climate Mobilization Act, a “bundle of 10 bills [that] will keep the city in line with emissions reduction targets set by the Paris Climate Agreement,” while New York State’s governor signed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act into law—with no less than Mr. Gore himself in attendance to lend his support.
On the West Coast, Los Angeles adopted the comprehensive OurCounty sustainability plan last summer, which calls for carbon neutrality by 2050 through “more than 150 strategies focused on health, including initiatives around food systems, transit-oriented development and housing affordability.” All the more encouraging, California’s governor is studying OurCounty as a possible model for the entire state—and where New York and California go, others soon follow.
And overseas—because let’s not forget we’re all in this together—the European Union has committed “a quarter of its budget to tackling climate change and to help shift $1.1 trillion in investment toward making the economy more environmentally friendly over the next 10 years.”
And if you’re interested in a primer on the Green New Deal—the fourteen-page resolution introduced in Congress by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA)—rather than refer you to some dry article or government website, why not let the great John Oliver explain it:
(Among other fun facts you’ll be able to share with your friends, Oliver observes that far from some phonebook-thick folio, the resolution comes in a full seven pages shorter than the menu at the Cheesecake Factory!)
THE YOUTH MOVEMENT
Like local municipalities vis-à-vis D.C., Millennials and Gen Z aren’t looking to their parents’ generations to solve this crisis; they’re taking the reins themselves. Inspired by AOC, organized by the Sunrise Movement, and led by teenage activist Greta Thunberg, young people worldwide are striking from school, marching in the streets, and occupying the offices of our elected officials, demanding the cleaner, fairer world they’ve been thus far denied. To those who prefer the fossilized ideologies and mythologies of the twentieth century, consider yourselves on notice: Change is coming… whether you like it or not.
Don’t take my word for that. Here’s what billionaire capitalist Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, the largest asset-management firm in the world, recently had to say about the impending inevitability of a youth-mobilized sustainability revolution:
In the discussions BlackRock has with clients around the world, more and more of them are looking to reallocate their capital into sustainable strategies. If ten percent of global investors do so—or even five percent—we will witness massive capital shifts. And this dynamic will accelerate as the next generation takes the helm of government and business. Young people have been at the forefront of calling on institutions—including BlackRock—to address the new challenges associated with climate change. They are asking more of companies and of governments, in both transparency and in action. And as trillions of dollars shift to millennials over the next few decades, as they become CEOs and CIOs, as they become the policymakers and heads of state, they will further reshape the world’s approach to sustainability.
Larry Fink, “A Fundamental Reshaping of Finance,” BlackRock.com, January 14, 2020
PUTTING A PRICE ON CARBON POLLUTION
Now, despite the seeming indifference of the federal government on the matter of climate change, it’s worth knowing there is a bipartisan carbon-pricing bill currently in Congress: the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. It’s not a tax, but rather a fee imposed directly on fossil-fuel extractors that would be returned in equal shares to American households in the form of a monthly dividend payment.
This policy is also covered, amusingly but effectively, in the Last Week Tonight segment above.
IT’S AN ELECTION YEAR
Hadn’t you heard? There’s a presidential election happening in November, and the candidates seeking the nomination to challenge the incumbent are all but stumbling over themselves to be the most environmentally progressive. Mercifully banished from our political discourse is talk of a fanciful “all-of-the-above” approach to energy policy—the “soft sell” designed to be the least disruptive to our growth-driven economy and least offensive to free-market sensibilities. Consider it: For the first time in the history of our country, we have an opportunity to put ecopolitical leadership in place that truly prioritizes environmental and social justice:
The plan is pretty straightforward: elect a strong supporter of the Green New Deal in the Democratic primaries; take the White House, the House, and the Senate in 2020; and start rolling it out on day one of the new administration (the way FDR did with the original New Deal in the famous “first 100 days,” when the newly elected president pushed fifteen major bills through Congress).
Naomi Klein, On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2019), 31
And, to be sure, it isn’t merely presidential hopefuls going green—all manner of “everyday people” of different ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds are soberly coming to grips with our (individual and collective) impact on the climate:
I can’t quite remember the moment when I became radicalized about protecting the environment and the planet, but it happened last year. That’s late in life, I know. At 49 years old, it is very possible and even likely that I have more years behind me than in front of me, but that is when it happened.
Before that, I didn’t do more than was required by law. . . .
I have tried to take more steps to reduce my carbon footprint. I ride mass transportation more often. I stopped consuming red meat. (The carbon footprint for beef and pork is obscene.) I buy more fruit and vegetables at the local farmers market. I compost. . . .
None of this is to position myself as a perfect example of an environmentalist, but rather to demonstrate to people like me who read this column that it is never too late to start trying, that every small effort matters, and that you can do it in communities of late-reformers like me.
Charles M. Blow, “My Journey to Radical Environmentalism,” Opinion, New York Times, January 8, 2020
LEAD ON CLIMATE
Feeling hopeful from any of that? You should be, because I can’t overstate how monumental it all is—how inconceivable any of it would have been even a mere few years ago. Make no mistake: Right now, at this moment in history, we have the momentum, the tools, and the opportunity to change the world for the better.
But here’s the thing…
Optimism isn’t a passive condition. Hope requires action. None of us can solve the climate crisis by ourselves, but all of us can—must—play some part in the solution. And for those seeking direction—and maybe hope, too—may I suggest you look to the same source of inspiration and leadership I did: Vice President Gore.
Mr. Gore will be hosting five of his three-day training seminars this year—right here in the United States:
- Las Vegas, Nevada: March 8–10, 2020
- San Antonio, Texas: April 14–16, 2020
- Raleigh, North Carolina: June 29–July 1, 2020
- Detroit, Michigan: August 11–13, 2020
- Orlando, Florida: September 3–4, 2020
The trainings are free of charge. You can apply here; alternatively, reach out to me directly and I will see to it your application is given priority consideration.
At the risk of sounding corny—and anyone who’s read this blog knows I put a premium on emotional candor—joining the Climate Reality Leadership Corps changed my life. And if enough of us join, you better believe we just may change the world—this year. It’s within sight. If you’re in search of cause for optimism, rest assured: It doesn’t get much more hopeful than that.
Great post, Sean. You left me with a huge smile. It’s easy for me to get sucked into the bottomless chasm of hopelessness when it comes to climate change. (Despite residing in progressive Oregon, I live in a pocket of Trump country where one day climate change is a Chinese hoax and the next day it’s fake news spread by the Democratic “deep state”. Yeesh. But reading this gave me hope! Thank you for sharing the good news.
I thought, Diana, I would start the year off by taking a break from my cultural invectives and esoteric dissertations and offer everyone — myself included — an earnest reason to be hopeful in this first month of 2020. Glad you responded as intended! There are many reasons to be optimistic for the climate crisis — this post covers merely the topline stuff — and in light of all that got done last year (from the various regional Green New Deals to the wave of Millennial women elected to Congress), there’s all the more reason to be hopeful that the coming twelve months will be yet more productive. But it’s all hands on deck: Each of us needs to find some way, true to ourselves, to pitch in.
One thing I would not waste any time doing is trying to convert deniers. They’re unreachable — and happy to be that way. Don’t waste the oxygen on them. Instead, focus on the many, many people who care about this issue, but aren’t involved in and/or educated about it. As I’ve said elsewhere, liberals are climate deniers, too. No, we don’t argue with the science, but we have (erroneously) convinced ourselves that our children will be the beneficiaries of first-world insulation from the worst effects of it. Any of us who travel in liberal circles know people like this — and that’s who we should be talking to! Engage them on this issue, then send them a copy of An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power or On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal. Let them know how hopeful things really are… but that we can’t sit back and assume some hero’s going to swoop in and save us. Like I say above: We have the momentum, the tools, and the opportunity to change the world for the better — the keyword being we.
Thanks, as always, Diana — for your audience and for your hope.
> the impacts of climate change are no longer deniable
He underestimates the limits of human denial. ESPECIALLY when immediate personal advantage is involved, such as money or political power. When denial is coupled w/ stubbornness and greed
Of course, in the long term personal advantage DOES mean saving the planet. And maybe those who refused to get on board will either see an advantage to changing sides, or be swept aside
But denial, stubbornness, and greed got us into this mess in the first place
In the end it comes down to who can out-stubborn the other
Greed, guilt, and ignorance seem to be, in my observation, the primary catalysts for climate denial. Speaking to the first of those:
Guilt, in my estimation, drives many Boomers — particularly those not directly benefiting from deregulated capitalism (the “elite minority” Klein identifies) — to denialism. They know full well their consumerist behaviors and free-market ideologies have left the world worse off for their heirs (“I take full responsibility for the fact that my generation complained about the state of the planet and did nothing to change it,” Pete Townshend once said), and knowing that they have neither the vision nor the years to repair the damage, have chosen instead to bury their heads in the sand — and respond with anger at anyone who threatens to disrupt their preferred state of denial.
As for the rest? They are merely willfully ignorant. I know many Boomers who fit the description above, but just as many that neither understand climate change nor care to, so they take whatever they hear from Hannity or Trump at face value. This group may or may not feel guilt, but, regardless, doesn’t wish to see the world as they’ve always known it undergo systemic reform, so they swat a dismissive hand at any talk of human-caused climate change. “In other words, it is always easier to deny reality than to watch your worldview get shattered, a fact that was as true of die-hard Stalinists at the height of the purges as it is of libertarian climate deniers today” (ibid., 94).
But here’s another piece of hopeful news: Their numbers are dwindling. Like I said to Diana above, don’t waste your time trying to change their minds. Instead, engage the majority of people who care about this issue, but don’t understand the basic science of global warming, or how pressing the climate crisis has become, or what they can do about it. I hope this post gives everyone some ideas about what they can do — not least of which is applying for the Climate Reality Leadership Corps training. Mr. Gore is typically good for about two of those trainings a year — one of which is usually conducted internationally — so the fact that he’s holding five of them right here in the United States should tell you that he thinks we’re on the precipice of big change, and he’s doing everything he can to lead the way there sooner than later.
Thanks for reading and caring, Dave. And on a personal note, thanks for following me when I stray from the path of pure narratology to indulge my other passion: climate activism. It means a lot that you put just as much time and care into reading and commenting on these posts as the ones focused on writing craft.
Lovely post, Sean, but I’m going to add a caveat, since I’m aggravated by the politicization of environmentalism, and remember that I’m a true Californian in this area–I love the planet. Be careful of letting slick talkers use green concerns to cement their power base. If a politician is using my love for the environment to try to herd me into a city with facial recognition software everywhere, I sincerely doubt their bona fides. And I loathe hypocrisy. Bernie rejected limiting his air travel miles. Why should a different standard apply to him? FDR took the train. So did Lincoln. Don’t tell me he’s so important that he has to fly.
Do any of these big talkers have as much to show for their efforts as picking up trash for a single afternoon? Or do they have another motivation entirely?
When a movement goes from its grass roots to a top-down, authoritarian model, quite often much of what was good is lost. (I’m speaking from a historical perspective here as a devout Catholic.) A one-world government is definitely not for me, and I believe that in time it will become a nightmare for everyone except the ruling oligarchy. (Otherwise, a majority of Britons wouldn’t support Brexit.) Sure, it’s great if they’re saying stuff you agree with. But what happens when the innocent are swept away along with the wicked, and no one in power cares? There are no more safe havens.
I believe a certain amount of decentralization and a healthy dose of skepticism are good things, along with rock-solid regard for human rights. Without these, I don’t believe the world will survive, no matter how “green” we are, at least not as anything we’d want to live in.
Just food for thought. : )
As always, Cathleen, you bring so much thought and content to the conversations here! Thank you!
As one of the climate organizations I volunteer for, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, is known for saying, politicians don’t create political will — they respond to it. And what we’re seeing now amongst the Democratic candidates for president is a direct response to what they are hearing from constituents, financial institutions, the international community, and Mother Nature herself. As Mr. Gore recently commented: “I am thrilled that virtually all of them have made the climate a very high priority — some of them in the top two issues. I’m not totally surprised by that because of polling shows that Democrats are prioritizing it. So naturally they’re going to get that message. But so many of them have put out genuinely impressive, comprehensive plans.”
But mostly it’s the youth movement that’s galvanized our shift to environmental sustainability and justice — this is very much a grassroots effort. Reflecting on Greta Thunberg’s admonition of our world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly this past September, Mr. Gore also said: “And the phrase ‘a little child shall lead them’ has come to mind more than once. There have been other times in human history when the moment a morally based social movement reached the tipping point was the moment when the younger generation made it their own. And so she’s very clear in saying, ‘Don’t tell me about hope,’ but she gives me hope and her generation gives me hope.”
So, we create the political will to enact the change we want to see, and then we hold those in charge to do what we want. Yes, they have access to the levers of power, but we have the numbers. It’s about more than getting them to merely say the right things; it’s about getting them to do the right things. And it’s happening right now in Europe, with the implementation of the European Green Deal:
I guess my point is that people in power will always be subject to hypocrisy and corruption — that’s the story of human history, after all (look no further than the impeachment trial in the Senate under Mitch McConnell’s leadership) — but there have also been unquantifiable social tipping points in which the masses demanded progress, and our leaders (elected and employed by us, let’s not forget) had no choice — despite their disinclination and resistance — to yield to that. We’re on the precipice of one of those moments now — “the next eight months” that Greenpeace Executive Director Jennifer Morgan identified in the quote above — and it fills me with tremendous hope. This is not to suggest I think the road ahead will be without further resistance or setbacks — mine is in no way naïve hopefulness — but the tectonic plates of human history are shifting beneath our feet as I type this. That’s a staggering — and inspiring — consideration. And there surely will be those who invoke the uncertainty of these times to stoke fear, but I only see hopeful possibility in the change underway. I’ll close on this excerpt from Ryan Bort’s interview with Jennifer Morgan:
That’s the question now. As for the answer? Stay tuned. And stay hopeful!
Wonderfully well done, Sean!! Well written and informative with a dose of humor. And the evidence of hope is so very much appreciated!
Thank you, Tara! And thank you for all you do on behalf of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the Climate Reality Project! And if you’re looking for more reasons yet to be hopeful, please take five minutes to read yesterday’s Rolling Stone interview with Greenpeace Executive Director Jennifer Morgan: “How to Tackle the Climate Crisis and (Hopefully) Save the Planet.”
I find it so frustrating that, despite what our Federal government is trying to do to combat climate change, I live in a province where the provincial government is actively campaigning against it, even spending hundreds of thousands of dollars destroying wind turbines, and forcing gas stations to put anti-carbon tax stickers on their gas pumps (if they refuse, they have to pay a $10 000 fine). Such woefully ignorant short-sightedness.
Journalist and activist Naomi Klein — whom I believe is a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S., having been born in the former to parents from the latter — has written extensively about Canada’s complicated history of environmentalism (particularly with regard to the country’s Indigenous communities), notably in her must-read book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. Per her website bio, “[s]he is one of the organizers and authors of Canada’s Leap Manifesto, a blueprint for a rapid and justice-based transition off fossil fuels endorsed by over 200 organizations, tens of thousands of individuals, which inspired similar climate justice initiatives around the world.” She’s definitely someone worth reading and knowing about, particularly if you’re Canadian.
Just curious, Suzanne (since you’re an educator): Are Canadian schoolchildren actively engaged on the issue of climate change? I ask because one of my Climate Reality colleagues here in Los Angeles is a scientist who regularly gives the Inconvenient Truth slideshow presentation to grade schools here, and he was telling me just last week that students understand the science of global warming way better than most adults, because it’s been integrated into their curriculum. We have no small amount of willful denialism here in the States, as you do north of the border, but I am at least encouraged to learn that children are being taught climate change from a fact-based, academic perspective — meaning they won’t be subject to propagandist confusion on the matter via the same type of misinformation campaigns that have delayed progress on this crisis for the last thirty years. Because the theme that keeps coming up — not just in this post but from Klein and BlackRock and Al Gore and Greenpeace — is that it’s the youth movement that’s forcing the issue on this. Who could’ve imagined environmentalism’s greatest prophet was the late, great Whitney Houston, who in her infinite wisdom recognized the children are our future?!
Amazing share Sean, and well written and documented. I am a Canadian who follows American politics very carefully – inevitably, what happens in the US trickles over to us. The impeached one’s wrath reaches far and wide. Canadians are doing their part and like in the US, I believe it is the children who are some of the best advocates for the future.
Thank you, Debby, for taking the time to read and comment on the piece!
To quote my mentor Mr. Gore: “Trump is — and this is not original with me, and I don’t know who to attribute it to — but a mix of malevolence and incompetence. And the latter characteristic has led to many of his anti-climate moves being blocked by the courts. And yet the absence of aggressive, creative, innovative leadership by the United States — it really diminishes, really, really hurts the ability of the world community to congeal around a new consensus to move forward more rapidly. And Madrid was more like Copenhagen and Paris, and one reason was that there was no U.S. advocacy. And the governors and mayors, they redeemed the reputation of the U.S. to some extent, for sure, but they could not push hard the way Obama pushed hard, the way Clinton and I pushed hard at Kyoto.”
So, given that, a lot rests on the outcome of our upcoming presidential election here in the States, which I suspect is why Mr. Gore is hosting five trainings throughout this coming spring and summer: He recognizes the urgency of this moment in history, and seeks to provide an opportunity for budding activists to get involved. So, if you happen to know anyone north of the border — young, old, or otherwise — who fits the bill, Debby, perhaps they can make the Detroit training in August…? Spread the word!
P.S. I was recently admonished for attributing that “children are our future” quote to Whitney Houston, when it was in fact originally recorded in 1977 by George Benson and written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed, and featured in the Muhammad Ali biopic The Greatest. The miscitation was made knowingly, so, since you referenced it, I’m taking this opportunity to correct the record.
Sean, my friend Diana W Peach referred me to this post in her response to my own blog post on the subject of climate change denial.
I am pleased that you see evidence of a change in your country towards working for the world instead of against it. I am afraid however, that I do not see the same in my own country – Australia. If you read my post, Feeling the Rapture? you will see the despair I have for the future of my children and h=grandchildren. I am an activist, and do what I can to spread the green message, but I am 71 and, wilh an ailing husband, am not able to travel to attend rallies and such.
Our country is ruled by capitalist miners and fundamentalist (so-called) Christians, and they are barely into their first year of office.
I am proud of the youngsters who are up and fighting for the world, its environment and its people. I have 5 sons and quite a few grandchildren and I want them to have a future. The current very poor excuse of a government seems to be working towards their own enrichment and power at the expense of that future.
I don’t want to die without hope for a change to the current destruction.
Linda,
Welcome! So pleased to know you; any friend of Diana’s is a friend of mine.
Let me start by saying the environmental community here in the United States is absolutely heartbroken for the wildfires ravaging your country — most recently Canberra — since last September. No rational person — and, despite appearances, there are still many of us here in America — denies the responsibility of human-caused climate change for these catastrophes. I’m hard-pressed to think of a country, in point of fact, that has experienced the adverse affects of climate change more intensely, dramatically, and frequently than Australia. (The coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef due to ocean acidification is but one example.)
It is very much the Judeo-Christian worldview of dominion over the Earth, coupled with the cannibalistic growth mandate of extractive capitalism, that led us into this global crisis — you are 100% right about that. And with complete empathy for everything you are experiencing in Australia — I am in Los Angeles and have choked on the pervasive smoke of wildfires myself — I can promise you there’s reason to be hopeful right now. I absolutely believe, as Mr. Gore does, humanity will not only get a handle on this crisis, but that we will ultimately emerge better off from it — that unlike the ideology of disaster capitalism you and I were born under, your grandchildren will come to live in a world that operates by an ethos of democratic eco-socialism, of care and repair. It’s already happening, though I appreciate that that’s cold comfort to people watching their homelands obliterated by wildfires or bomb cyclones. Mr. Gore himself is “fond of quoting an MIT economist who famously said, ‘Things take longer to happen than you think they will, but then they happen faster than you thought they could.'” Wait and see: 2020 will be the year the tide turns.
Activism is the antidote to despair, and there are plenty of things you can do — even taking into account your circumstantial limitations — to usher in the era of a Global Green New Deal. First off: Talk to your friends and neighbors about climate change. You’d be surprised how many people don’t know much about it, or don’t want to face it because it’s “depressing.” You can make a big difference simply by discussing it, which serves the dual function of spreading awareness and mitigating wariness of the subject. As my friend Erik Tyler recently said, if it’s mentionable, it’s manageable.
Encourage your sons and grandchildren to get involved. Support politicians who make climate a legislative priority. You’ll be surprised how much hope you’ll take from simple actions like those.
Conversely, don’t waste your time trying to convert deniers: They’re (proudly) impenetrable, and they’re the (increasing) minority now, anyway. Focus on educating and activating people that care about this issue, but don’t understand the science, need for urgency, and/or how they can contribute to the solution.
And you could do a lot worse than to read these books: Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (which I reviewed here); Adam Frank’s Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth (a very hopeful book I reviewed here); and Klein’s On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal (which I blogged about here.)
Whatever you do, Linda, don’t give into despair — not when we’re thisclose to the systemic change our world so desperately longs for. We wouldn’t be this far along if it weren’t for folks like you who care so deeply. Take hope from that.
Sean
This is a perfect way to use state and city rights to make positive changes that always take forever in Washington!
Exactly, Jess: If the Trump presidency has (inadvertently) animated a generation of progressive activists, the partisan gridlock in Washington has energized local municipalities and states to exercise their legislative autonomy. Are either of those a preferential substitute for meaningful federal leadership on this issue? No. But both are critical to a functioning democracy, and if/when we take the White House, House, and Senate in November, the infrastructure will be in place for our new president to commence immediate rollout of the Green New Deal. Such is why I’m optimistic: We have a real shot here. But we need to appreciate both the historical magnitude and political fragility of this moment, and make damn sure this once-in-a-century chance at major systemic reform doesn’t slip through our fingers. Foresight is 2020.