Can One Person Make a Difference?

A friend recently asked me, “How important is it that I reduce my carbon footprint? Will it really make any difference?”

This is a good question.  I’ve been puzzling over this for years.  My answer:

1. Yes, it’s important that we each reduce our carbon footprints.
2. Yes, it will make a difference.
3. No, it will not make a big enough difference to solve the climate crisis, even if lots of us do it.
4. Answer #3 above does not invalidate answers #1 and #2.

The climate crisis cannot be solved without millions of us in the United States significantly reducing our carbon footprints.  We will need to reduce our air travel and driving, use less fossil fuel heating and cooling our homes, eat less meat, generally reduce our consumption and live more lightly on the earth.  There are many good lists of steps we can take personally, including one from Global Stewards.

Friends of mine who have recently added insulation to their homes, or cut meat out of their diet one day a week, or started to carpool, all seem to be happier as a result! 

Identity
There’s another value to reducing our carbon footprints.  This is the way most of us begin to see ourselves as people who care about the climate crisis and are doing something about it.  Having this identity makes a big difference. 

Having this identity makes it easier to learn more about the climate crisis. Having this identity makes it easier to share what we learn with other people.  Having this identity makes it easier for us to take some further action in unison with other people.  Take some action and claim the identity.   Being completely green (whatever that is) is not required.

Necessary, But Not Sufficient
However, even if millions of us both here and around the world reduce our personal carbon footprints, it won’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to stop the climate disaster.  It reminds me of one of my high school math teachers, maybe it was my 10^th grade geometry teacher, who tried to teach us about the difference between “necessary” and “sufficient.”  Lowering our personal carbon footprints, is necessary, but not sufficient.

Big Changes
Big changes are needed – the kind you can only get through a movement such as the Civil Rights Movement.  Inclusive mass movements are the way to force governments and industries to take actions they otherwise would not take.  It is clear in the United States and around the world that governments, and the fossil fuel, petrochemical and big agriculture industries, are unwilling, or unable, to take the bold climate-friendly steps that are required. We need a climate movement that will force the adoption of something like the Green New Deal, international agreements that go beyond the Paris Accord, nations helping each other, and economies that prioritize the common good and justice for oppressed groups.

Successes
Fortunately such a movement is building and having successes.  The United States is not at the forefront of this international movement, but even here, public pressure from the climate justice movement is bringing about good changes in many states and municipalities.¹ Grassroots groups have limited some fossil fuel expansion plans and are pushing new initiatives.²  These larger actions can lower our collective carbon footprint much more quickly than our individual reductions.  For a problem as huge as climate change, both individual and collective actions are needed.

Now is the Time
What’s needed now is for the climate justice movement to grow rapidly.  Even if you haven’t thought of activism as “your thing”; even if you have usually left such things up to others; now is the time for everyone who cares about the climate crisis to start going to meetings of a local climate organization.³ Stopping the climate crisis is going to require us to band together with others to take action.⁴

Even a few hours per month engaged with others in working for climate justice will make a difference.  It’s a great antidote to feelings of despair and hopelessness and can lead to new friendships and the good feeling of being part of one of the most momentous movements in human history.

Many Stones Can Form an Arch
Thinking about what we can do together, that none of us can do alone, reminds me of an old union song.  “Many stones can form an arch, singly none, singly none.…  Drops of water turn a wheel, singly none, singly none.”5  Let us be those stones and drops.  Together, much is possible.

________________

1. Some states and municipalities are now requiring: solar panels on new homes, zero-energy buildings for new municipal facilities, utility companies to get larger and larger percentages of their energy from renewable sources, and significant climate and clean energy spending to go to “disadvantaged communities.”
2. Grassroots groups have banded together to block new fossil fuel pipelines and export terminals from being built; and shut down coal-fired generating plants.  Groups are organizing to put a fee on carbon pollution, to win support for the Green New Deal, to green the electricity grid more quickly, and expand regenerative agriculture. 
3. If you have difficulty finding a local climate organization, and you are a young person, you could explore the Sunrise Movement.  Older folks can check out whether 350.org, the Sierra Club, or Citizens Climate Lobby has a chapter near you.  These are just a few of the many good organizations.
4.  I recommend that we all also join, and financially support, a national climate justice organization. My favorite now is the Sunrise Movement, which is advancing the Green New Deal.  There are many good climate organizations, but I would prioritize those that clearly put justice at the center of their agenda.
5. “Step by Step”  The words are from a 19th century Mining Union “rulebook”. Pete Seeger put the tune to it.

Photo of the stone arch bridge is by Sheila Brown –   Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Oklahoma.