Discuss: How to Be a Climate Hero

A wonderful article, beautifully framed and easily read.  I agree that people are stuck in the muck, unaware of what to do.  As I talk to children around the area here, they simply dont know what to do.  Too much doom and gloom seems to elongate the stand-still.  I tell them small steps.. bags, reusable water bottles. But are small steps enough?

Thank You for a great article.

The Greeks would not name anyone a hero who was still alive: too much could happen between a great deed and death to wipe out the great deed.  Moreover, as Emerson wrote, death is the only proof of heroism.  There is plenty to do, but we demean the term “hero” when we apply it indiscriminately to any and all worthy actions.

All I can say is thank you!

Audrey, what a perfect description of our frantic need to do something while sitting paralyzed trying to know just what that should be. 

But regarding climate action, I’m afraid that a much larger number of people refuse to turn around and keep reading their paper.

Well, right now the eastern US is having a heatwave, with temps in the 80’s in April and we’re all loving it! What does that mean about human nature?

I read Michael Pollen’s column in this past Sunday’s NYT Magazine. Why Bother?

He’s for growing your own food, planting a vegetable garden, and get reconnected to our food, our planet and our dependence upon it too. 

There are so many personal choices that are easy and work.  I’m for just starting.

Great article, should be read by everyone worldwide.

I loved your writing:

“....I got depressed. I got anxious. Then, from sheer desperation, I started writing letters to editors. I remember well the first one that got published. It was in the Globe, ...the thrill I got. The sense of agency.”

Yes, the sense of agency. We all need to do something personal like you did: write a letter, make a phone call, attend a demo, march, etc.....

For me, my sense of agency came from starting the Polar Cities Research Project, which posits that by 2500 we might need to have polar cities to live in, for survivors of global warming, if all the mitigation things do not work. So my one-man band sense of agency comes from this blog and media outreach I started a year ago, with a New York Times blogpost about it on March 29 on Dot Earth.

But for the most part, nobody is really listening to me, or wants to. But this just gives me a stronger sense of agency, urgency, whatever. Anyway, it’s not my idea, it comes directly from Dr James Lovelock and most people do not really want to hear what he is saying either. [I listened to him.]

Prior to 2000, I worked in the Seattle area. I drove 30 miles (one way) to work. At that time, I knew we were destroying the earth (I have a degree in ecology). But I just kept joining all those people on the highway each morning. Bumper to bumper for a 1-2 hour commute to and from work each day.

In 2000, I finally came to my senses. I chose to leave Seattle and a very good career as a computer consultant. I started a native plant materials company to try to give something back. AND I consciously chose a job where I would not commute 60 miles and 2 hours every work day.

I live in a small town now. Back then, I had a 6-digit salary as a dot com consultant. Today, I make what is considered poverty wages. But I will not give the business up. Why? Because I realize that by living here the most damage I can cause with my car is the drive 2 miles across town. After two miles, you have driven through town and there is nowhere to go.

I now fill my gas tank once every 6 weeks instead of every 4 days. I use about 90 percent less gas than I used to. That is significant.

I get MUCH more done because I do not waste 2 hours commuting every day. Those are two positives to the social model I have chosen to live. That everyone needs to chose to live.

You ALL need to either move within walking distance of work or find a new job near your home. If it means you have to cut your income in half…

So be it.

That is the kind of commitment we all have to make to survive.

This is a war. And just like the battles in WWI and WWII, you have to do your part even if it means real and serious consequences. And you have to be willing to do your part voluntarily.

It might mean you have to give up your home and quality of life. You may have to move into a trailer or camper.

But you know, if we all do it together, it would not be so bad.

These are the kinds of changes we all have to make. And if we are unwilling to make them, then we will all literally roast in hell.

We have to be willing to give up what we have had to insure the future of our children. Or species. Humanity itself.

And if we do not take that seriously, if we all look around at each other in panic and shock, then we are all going to be going into heat stress, heat stroke… and seisures as was the fate of this lady on the bus.

God be with us. Peace, goodwill toward men.

Ken Boettger
Ellensburg, WA

Ken

Very good comment, and I agree with you 100000%. This is a war. And sacrifices will be called for, in terms of comfort levels and convenience. I have not driven a car in 16 years. Use a bicycle every day to get around town. Do my work four blocks from my home. Live with low but comfortable wages. Enjoy life immensely every day!

You are so right. If ever want to chat, do email me at danbloom GMAIL

PS: I used to pick apples during harvest work one autumn time in 1971......

Fond memories of that area of the state....

Danny