President Biden told the United Nations recently that by 2024 the U.S. will provide $11.4 billion yearly in climate financing for developing nations. This is a bold, courageous, and much needed step, and at the same time woefully insufficient. …
Read more
This past week I watched a recording of the kick-off call for an action called “People vs. Fossil Fuels.” One
Read more
“A code red for humanity. The alarm bells are deafening and the evidence is irrefutable.” This is UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s description of the most recent report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The August 9th report is “a comprehensive summary of what is known about the drivers of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce those risks” compiled by 234 scientists from 66 countries, who reviewed over 14,000 studies from thousands of scientists around the world.
Their findings include :
Read more
On a number of occasions, I’ve encouraged you who read my blog to join a local climate organization and get involved in some project with them. A problem as large and systemic as the climate crisis is not going to be solved by individuals acting alone. There is power in numbers.
I thought you might be interested to know what my experience has been in getting involved with a local climate organization, and also to learn how one small organization has made a difference and contributed to the larger climate movement.
Read more
Good news abounds on the climate front. More solar and wind power is being installed all over the world. The international financial industry is slowly but surely withdrawing support for fossil fuel projects. The President of the U.S. is aiming for net-zero carbon emissions from the electric grid by 2035 and is moving legislation forward to support climate action.
Yet the overall picture with our climate is still quite dire and getting worse.
Seven things you can do to make a difference.
Read more
The day before Joe Biden was inaugurated President, a friend of mine said to me in passing, “I’m so happy and excited that he’s going to get us back into the Paris Climate Accords right away!”
I have another friend who worked hard to get Biden elected. The day Biden was declared the winner, she shifted to bemoaning the fact that he isn’t more radical than he is, and focusing all her energy on where we need to push him to take bolder action on both climate and race.
Both?
I could identify with both of my friends — feel both the joy of first one and the upset of the other. But I don’t want to choose between being happy about what a difference Biden’s election will make, and being upset about the fact that his policies are still not adequate to meet the crises we face. Can’t I have both happiness in the moment and a sense of purpose and determination about the challenges ahead?
This month, March 2020, marks the one-year anniversary of my blog, “Love, justice, and climate change … I know you can make a difference.” – 25 posts in all. Whether it’s because you have a busy life, or because you only recently started reading this blog, you likely haven’t read all of them. This post provides a retrospective of the first 12 posts (more to come later) — an annotated table of contents, if you will. This will let you see what’s there and perhaps go back and read ones that are of special interest to you.
Read more
When I was a boy I lived in my grandparents house with my mother and brother. My grandfather was not very involved in my upbringing, but he did want things to go his way. If he told you something and you seemed not to understand or not to agree, his response was to say the same thing to you again, in an angry yell. While I often complied rather than get in more trouble, I have to say that his loudness and wrath never made me more open-minded to his point of view.
How do we change people’s minds or get them more engaged? How do we get the public as a whole, or the government, to take more action on climate change? How do we turn things around in the midst of this climate crisis?
Read more
In the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, a young girl sets off to take some food to her sickly grandmother. She meets a wolf …. When Little Red Riding Hood arrives at her grandmother’s house, she thinks her “grandmother” looks strange, but the wolf lures her close with his disguise and lies, and then eats her in one gulp.
Who’s in disguise and lying now? The big oil companies have been lying to the American public for decades.
Read more
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 is…
3 key features of the Green New Deal proposal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions, millions of high-wage jobs and promote justice and equity
Read more
Two things people need to join the climate justice movement. Developing the habit of having a hopeful fact to share related to climate change.
Read more
People of color, including indigenous people, who in most cases have done the least to cause climate change, are disproportionally suffering its effects. How racism interferes with our efforts to stop climate change.
Read more