Climate Worrier
I used to be a climate warrior, but now I’m a climate worrier.
The climate of the planet is irreversibly changing because humans have spent the last 150 years burning fossil fuels to heat our buildings, move around at speed, manufacture everything—the things that make modern life so technologically wondrous and starkly alienating. Just as the shiny innovations are inequitably distributed to the wealthy and the powerful, the share of the impact of climate change most hurts the poor, the vulnerable, children, women, people of color, the elderly, the powerless, plants, islands, deserts, animals, insects, and the oceans.
The effects of climate change on people and the planet shows up frequently in my writing. Even when I don’t start out meaning to write about the climate, it’s always there in the background.
What am I doing about it?
My 9-to-5 focuses on mitigating climate change and supporting efforts to increase renewable energy, reduce energy demand, and invoke nature-based solutions to the greatest threat to human existence on this planet. I’m fortunate to have the mission and the resources to fight the worst offenders: the governments and corporations that have done the most harm and have the most to lose.
What can you do?
Everyone can play a role, because we all contribute to the status quo. Here are my best ideas:
Compost. Eat less meat. Use less plastic. Drive less. Fly less. Plant native trees and plants. Turn your lawn into a garden. Walk more. Buy clothes made with sustainable processes and fabrics. Be a climate voter. Reuse everything. Listen to indigenous peoples. Bring your own bag to the store. Use your gifts to tell your own climate story. Put solar on your roof. Switch out your gas stove for an electric range. Put your money into banks that don’t finance oil and gas exploration and development. Buy local. Build a wind farm. Take the bus. Publicly resign your lucrative position as CEO of a multinational oil corporation and move to Kiribati to help sea-stranded locals find a new place to live.
Is it enough?
No.
The climate is already changed, past tense. Storms are worsening, fire season is lengthening, species are going extinct. We, as humans, will all have to adapt. The question is just how much.
It’s hard to stay hopeful. I worry about my future. I worry about my city. I worry about the future of this planet and the people who depend on it. I worry about the future of books and stories in a world that is slowly being consumed. But writing is inherently a hopeful act. Writing believes it will be someday read. Today, I push my worst fears into my stories.
