According to my father, who gave me the Tibetan prayer flags, Tibetan Buddhists believe that as the prayers weather and fade, the words reach the Deities. So, is a squirrel's digestive track a fast track to God? The answer is probably no. Though it would appear to speed up the weathering process, out of respect for the ancient beliefs of Tibetan Buddhism, I rescued the flags from the hungry squirrel. He was busily shredding them and stuffing the colorful tatters into his mouth.
Watching this act of squirrel sabotage reminded me of a great book I read last year - Suburban Safari: A year on the lawn, by Hannah Holmes - with a picture of a mischievous-looking squirrel on the cover. Packed with information and good humor, it documents nature in a suburban backyard. The very premise of the book challenges the human/nature dichotomy - the Wilderness as (human free) Eden that Abbey, Muir, Thoreau and a long tradition of nature writers portray.
I bring this up for two reasons. Firstly, I don't want to perpetuate the wilderness myth. I want to clarify that, in my post on guilt, I was not intentionally glorifying Wilderness as Eden. The point is to open our minds and souls to nature all around us (within us) rather than burning fossil fuels to bring ourselves out to the Wilderness (though, I admit I enjoy that too:)). In a culture indoctrinated into the myth that humans are separate from nature, and nature is only to be found in remote places with high adventure, it is difficult to notice nature between the cracks, so to speak. It is a learning process to open our eyes and our senses - to be present enough to appreciate the first chickadee spring call from the cedar shrubbery, to admire the red buds on the street trees or even the house plant or how the willow in the neighbor's lot retains its yellow hue throughout the snowy months. It is even more difficult to see nature in our microwavable dinner, in our desks and computers, in ourselves (I'm working on this...).
Secondly, overcoming this human/nature dichotomy is essential for combating the cultural roots of climate change. We have to begin to see ourselves as part of a much larger whole, as intricately connected. If we continue to pretend that humans are somehow distinct and autonomous, we can continue to bury our heads in the sand. And how can we envision a world where humans live sustainably with nature if we don't begin to see ourselves as a part of it? This world view precludes solutions. (For a more thorough discussion and help with myth-busting, see the work of William Cronon and Charles Mann.)
It's snowing outside as I write. A woodpecker (a hairy, I think?) just landed on the home-made, scrap-metal feeder (the product of a weekend welding workshop) hanging from an old climbing rope in our apartment yard. She takes a peanut from the feeder, flies to the red maple leaning over our porch, and nestles it carefully in a scarred, peanut-sized hole where a branch was pruned. She uses the hole in the tree as a cup to keep the peanut still as she pecks it into beak-sized pieces. In the nursery playground beyond the fence, four-year olds in colorful, puffy snow suits bat at the snow with mini red shovels, screeching and tumbling about, covered in snow.
Careful observation can begin to break down the chasm between our species and the rest. It can begin to broaden our awareness and bring nature to us, so that we don't always have to go somewhere else to get it (puffing CO2 all the way).
While the squirrel probably won't help deliver my prayers to the Heavens, he did provide a moment of mindfulness. I stopped work and darted outside to shake my fists. After terrifying the squirrel, I paused out on the porch and felt the cool air on my cheeks and in my lungs, listened to the neighborhood hum - the rumble of a car blended with the creaking trees and the distant squawk of a jay.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Top ten FUN ways to reduce GHG emissions!!
So, my last post got me thinking - it can't all be bad, right? There has to be a silver lining... And, in fact, worrying about climate change and trying to reduce my impact has led me to learn about several fun solutions:
What am I missing? (probably lots, since I'm just doing this off the top of my head...)
- Going to the farmers' market: I love dogs, fresh vegetables, farmers, sunshine, and happy-looking people (boy, that sounds like a personal ad:)). The Farmer's market has all these things in abundance - going to the farmers' market is, perhaps, my favorite climate solution
- Eating local: a bunch of my friends and I took a pledge to "eat local" for the month of September - if you enjoy cooking and you want to get better at it, this is a great way to it. We learned how to make pasta from scratch, bread, tortillas, salsa, pasta sauce, cheese, granola, etc. I also spent a lot of time stocking my freezer with fresh vegetables and fruit. Now (in February) I'm reaping the rewards, with ricotta cheese cake made from scratch (ie, we made the ricotta) and strawberry sauce from my freezer bounty - yum. For recipes, check out www.vermontlocalvore.org. I also recommend Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, as resources. Now we're part of a winter CSA that I'm really enjoying.
- Alternative Transportation - I've said this before, but I don't like driving. I also like being outside and exercising - cross country skiing to school, biking to work, canoeing to breakfast, taking the bus...I like it all. Mostly I just walk in the winter and bike in the summer.
- Living in a city. A lot of my enviro classmates would like to live in the woods (where you generally have a much higher footprint). Fortunately for me, I like living in the city. I like being able to walk to anything, and having a whole range of activities at my fingertips.
- Do it yourself anything - Growing your own food, knitting, wood-working, brewing your own beer - Fun! Not to mention the excuse to hang out with others and enjoy their company through parallel play.
- Renewable Energy - I know I'm a geek, but I think all things renewable are cool, whether you're making your own biodiesel or charging your i-pod with solar panels. And, yes, I know too much to think that any of these things is a panacea, but I still think they're fun.
- Raising a ruckus - I know I'm a minority, but I enjoy being an activist. I like taking to the streets. I like ruffling feathers. I like actively working for change, particularly when there's a solid group of others working with me.
- Not worrying about having the latest gadget, or the latest anything. I don't have a TV. I limit my ad consumption, and I think this makes me a happier person. This is not to say I never feel social pressure, but I think I feel less of it than most people, and that's a nice freedom to have.
- Snuggling to stay warm? 'Nough said.
- Craigslist - finding cool, used things...
- (The Carbonators - my moral and intellectual support group.)
- Turning down the thermostat (though not THAT much - I'm a cold wuss)
- Turning off my computer at night - I'm trying to get better at this
- Turning off the lights -duh
- Recycling
- Changing out my light-bulbs (I think we only have compact fluorescents now)
- Keeping my tires pumped up
- Unplugging appliances (I'm trying to get better!)
- Composting (this was not so fun when I had the worms inside the apartment and we accidentally introduced three species of fruit-fly - wash your fruit! - otherwise, I kind of enjoyed it, in a second grade, science experiment kind of way. Now our compost is outside - post fruit-fly coup)
- Shopping responsibly
- Carpooling, reducing, combining trips
- Voting - DUH!!
- Forgo fun activities (booh!)
- Drive 55 mpg... I drive 65 on the highway, but 55 is a rough one...
- Travel less
- Forgo fun outdoor equipment that I don't really need...
- Wake up earlier - align my schedule with daylight (?)
What am I missing? (probably lots, since I'm just doing this off the top of my head...)
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Guilt. What is it good for?
Like most people studying the environment, I feel a lot of guilt. In fact, I think it's a little disingenuous to have a blog on the emotional impact of climate change and not talk about guilt. But I often avoid discussing my guilt because it makes others feel guilty, and I don't like making other people feel bad. But should I avoid making others feel guilty? How should I deal with my own guilt? Some would say that Americans, as a whole, are guilt deficient. But I'm not convinced of guilt's utility to our cause.
I took the weekend off from working - woohoo!! I had a great time skiing with my family. Ah, skiing. I paid a wealthy corporation a lot of money to fragment ecologically sensitive habitat on slopes with high rates of erosion and then burn a ton of fossil fuels to carry my lazy ass up a mountain, so I could slide back down again. Not to mention giving suburbanites an excuse to buy SUVs. As I rode the chair, admiring the spectacular view of the Greens in crystal, snowy sunshine, the guilt bubbled up. But guilt is a little like bad weather - it makes your experience slightly less enjoyable, but it doesn't necessarily change your behavior. I kept skiing. Moments like this are a regular part of my life - struggling to improve a problematic society without entirely exiling myself from it.
Waiting to get into one of Burlington's many over-crowded restaurants post-skiing, my mother told us stories of how her mother (my grandmother) got involved in the environmental movement and became the stout, white-haired radical we knew and loved. I was reminded of a story my aunt told me (apocryphal perhaps) of great grand-daddy Wilson, the big union Democrat. Every night at the dinner table, he would ask his children (including my grandmother) what they'd done for their country. "Recombinate" that with my great grandpa on my father's side ("every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity an obligation; every possession a duty") and you get my brother and me, equipped with a driving sense of responsibility and an overdeveloped sense of guilt. Maybe we should spread it around a little? Share?
Though Americans might be generally guilt-deficient (at least according to the rest of the world), guilt is not that persuasive. Ted Norhaus and Michael Shellenberger lambasted the environmental movement in their now famous "Death of Environmentalism" for dwelling on the "nightmare" - the guilt. Other environmental theorists note that dwelling on all the bad stuff makes folks turn off, tune out.
Well, fine, but this is a blog about the emotional impact of climate change. I am guilty. We all are guilty. This is a major barrier to the climate movement - we can't rail against the perpetrators because we are all perpetrators. We are all guilty.
Because it's Black History Month, one of the campus coffee shops has a prominent display of Black literature. In a rare moment of killing time, I picked up a book of Martin Luther King's work and opened to a chapter. This essay was on love - love as a central organizing principal for his movement (a little reminiscent of my post on balance, though much better articulated). In the essay, he noted that his movement was never against people - never against Whites. It was a movement resisting the injustice within people - within all of us. Extolling the virtues of non-violence, he fought violence with love - a kind of love he called agape.
I think this is the approach we have to take. And, if we don't subscribe to the dominant philosophy that as individuals we are complete rational wholes, if we allow for the fact that we are more complex than that, with many conflicting desires and personas, then we don't have to let the guilt overcome us. We can recognize and resist the "injustice" and greed within ourselves, as Martin Luther King suggests, resisting it through love. Which means we have to cultivate the capacity to forgive ourselves, also.
And then, of course, Edward Abbey and Mary Oliver (other inspirations) would remind us that we have to spend some time enjoying nature as well, noticing, reveling, being present to the wonderful gift of the Earth, with gratitude. We can't feel guilty all the time, or we'll forget to save our one "wild and precious life." My friend Erin just sent me this Abbey quote:
"One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am -- a reluctant enthusiast ... a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; you will outlive the bastards."
[Missoula, Montana, 1978]
And Mary Oliver would add:
"The Journey
In the final passage of Martin Luther King's essay on love, he reiterates his belief that the creative forces of the Universe - whatever we choose to call them - are on our side in our pursuit of justice in the world. Perhaps when we connect with the Earth, as Abbey suggests, we reconnect with this force within the Universe, and it reinvigorates us, strengthens our capacity to resist.
I'm not implying that commercial downhill skiing is the best way to do this. In fact, I think connecting with nature is probably a lot easier if we're not simultaneously destroying it. I'm just wrestling with the guilt, struggling to find that balance between E.B. White's well-articulated struggle: "I wake each morning torn between the desire to improve the world and the desire to enjoy it. It makes it hard to plan the day."
I took the weekend off from working - woohoo!! I had a great time skiing with my family. Ah, skiing. I paid a wealthy corporation a lot of money to fragment ecologically sensitive habitat on slopes with high rates of erosion and then burn a ton of fossil fuels to carry my lazy ass up a mountain, so I could slide back down again. Not to mention giving suburbanites an excuse to buy SUVs. As I rode the chair, admiring the spectacular view of the Greens in crystal, snowy sunshine, the guilt bubbled up. But guilt is a little like bad weather - it makes your experience slightly less enjoyable, but it doesn't necessarily change your behavior. I kept skiing. Moments like this are a regular part of my life - struggling to improve a problematic society without entirely exiling myself from it.
Waiting to get into one of Burlington's many over-crowded restaurants post-skiing, my mother told us stories of how her mother (my grandmother) got involved in the environmental movement and became the stout, white-haired radical we knew and loved. I was reminded of a story my aunt told me (apocryphal perhaps) of great grand-daddy Wilson, the big union Democrat. Every night at the dinner table, he would ask his children (including my grandmother) what they'd done for their country. "Recombinate" that with my great grandpa on my father's side ("every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity an obligation; every possession a duty") and you get my brother and me, equipped with a driving sense of responsibility and an overdeveloped sense of guilt. Maybe we should spread it around a little? Share?
Though Americans might be generally guilt-deficient (at least according to the rest of the world), guilt is not that persuasive. Ted Norhaus and Michael Shellenberger lambasted the environmental movement in their now famous "Death of Environmentalism" for dwelling on the "nightmare" - the guilt. Other environmental theorists note that dwelling on all the bad stuff makes folks turn off, tune out.
Well, fine, but this is a blog about the emotional impact of climate change. I am guilty. We all are guilty. This is a major barrier to the climate movement - we can't rail against the perpetrators because we are all perpetrators. We are all guilty.
Because it's Black History Month, one of the campus coffee shops has a prominent display of Black literature. In a rare moment of killing time, I picked up a book of Martin Luther King's work and opened to a chapter. This essay was on love - love as a central organizing principal for his movement (a little reminiscent of my post on balance, though much better articulated). In the essay, he noted that his movement was never against people - never against Whites. It was a movement resisting the injustice within people - within all of us. Extolling the virtues of non-violence, he fought violence with love - a kind of love he called agape.
I think this is the approach we have to take. And, if we don't subscribe to the dominant philosophy that as individuals we are complete rational wholes, if we allow for the fact that we are more complex than that, with many conflicting desires and personas, then we don't have to let the guilt overcome us. We can recognize and resist the "injustice" and greed within ourselves, as Martin Luther King suggests, resisting it through love. Which means we have to cultivate the capacity to forgive ourselves, also.
And then, of course, Edward Abbey and Mary Oliver (other inspirations) would remind us that we have to spend some time enjoying nature as well, noticing, reveling, being present to the wonderful gift of the Earth, with gratitude. We can't feel guilty all the time, or we'll forget to save our one "wild and precious life." My friend Erin just sent me this Abbey quote:
"One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am -- a reluctant enthusiast ... a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; you will outlive the bastards."
[Missoula, Montana, 1978]
And Mary Oliver would add:
"The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save." - Mary Oliver
In the final passage of Martin Luther King's essay on love, he reiterates his belief that the creative forces of the Universe - whatever we choose to call them - are on our side in our pursuit of justice in the world. Perhaps when we connect with the Earth, as Abbey suggests, we reconnect with this force within the Universe, and it reinvigorates us, strengthens our capacity to resist.
I'm not implying that commercial downhill skiing is the best way to do this. In fact, I think connecting with nature is probably a lot easier if we're not simultaneously destroying it. I'm just wrestling with the guilt, struggling to find that balance between E.B. White's well-articulated struggle: "I wake each morning torn between the desire to improve the world and the desire to enjoy it. It makes it hard to plan the day."
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Our crazy, lovable species
It's funny the little things that cheer me: the broad, open smile of a stranger passing on the sidewalk; riding the bus, an old man lecturing the college students to "slow down and say 'hi' to people;" some ruffian teens, the requisite ear buds and hoodies, who suddenly notice the moon. There's a lot to love about this crazy species when you stop to notice. We are worth working for.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Generation Green
Check it out - this made my day!!!! :) :) It's a news article on how enviro little kids are - harassing their parents into action Generation Green
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
My Sixth Sense - I see externalities
Shopping with me is a lot of fun. Just kidding! I'm a pain in the ass. That's because I have a sixth sense - I see externalities. Take a cellphone, for example. This item is on my mind because T-Mobile just decided to cancel me. When I walk into, say, Verizon or Radio Shack, I don't just see a bunch of cute, stylish cellphones on display. No, each cellphone has its own set of demons surrounding it. According to NYT Magazine, just the mining of gold for a single cellphone circuit board creates 220 pounds of waste - there's one hulking ghoul, 800-times the size of the phone, drooling toxins on the floor. And that's not even taking into account the waste from the other components. Then there's the carbon footprint - a towering, floating specter, not unlike the dementors of Harry Potter fame, glowering down on me. I pick up the cell and look at the tag - hmm, "Made in China." Thoughts of human rights abuses swarm around me like pestering insects. I could go on...
You might think I have an overactive imagination. I think I just know too much. Actually, I think the rest of the world knows too little. The more we can get these demons out in the open - make them visible - the easier it will be to conquer them.
To stop feeding the Externalities check out the Better World Shopping Guide. To learn a little more, check out The Story of Stuff.
You might think I have an overactive imagination. I think I just know too much. Actually, I think the rest of the world knows too little. The more we can get these demons out in the open - make them visible - the easier it will be to conquer them.
To stop feeding the Externalities check out the Better World Shopping Guide. To learn a little more, check out The Story of Stuff.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Finding balance
Rough day. I am burnt out - sick of plugging away, hour after hour. Sick of logging weekends holed up indoors, sick of running my gears, spinning my wheels, and wondering if any of it will yield any benefit to anyone, if any of it is worth it. Sure, it's all a great learning experience, a great intellectual activity - but does anyone benefit? Will the Earth benefit? What am I doing all this work (my masters thesis) for again?
We watched a movie the other day - a Japanese anime flick called Princess Mononoke - which captures some of the complexity of environmentalism in a way that I have not seen in Western films. That is to say, it recognizes that there can be good in those destroying nature, that there are trade-offs to be made between the welfare of people and the environment, and it seems to, rather than champion the people or champion the environment, call for balance and non-violence, and ask the people to back off a bit to regain this balance. Balance. It got me thinking about how little balance there is on any side of this issue (global warming). Even with potential solutions - biofuels for example - proponents push them to the extreme, rather than letting them fill a niche where they make sense - finding balance. People and issues are polarized. Another word for balance is equilibrium. We (humans) are out of equilibrium - pushing both our consumption and our population well beyond a point that the Earth can sustain. And we are all encouraged to take sides, but perhaps what we need to work towards is a philosophy of balance rather than one specific solution or another - everything in moderation, the golden mean - and to recognize that we are taking more than our fair share.
In yoga class the other day, my teacher talked about the philosophy of non-violence, another word for which is "love," telling us not to push ourselves too hard, or we defeat the purpose of the practice. If we can practice non-violence - love - towards ourselves, we can begin to practice it towards the world. She was talking specifically about yoga, but her words apply to my entire life. I have not been practicing "non-violence" or "love" towards myself, of late. The incessant deadlines, late nights, the stress, the perfectionism, the ever-expanding work week - this is not love. For both my sanity and to improve the impact and benefit of my work, I need to strive to find a place of balance, to practice "non-violence," and let my work come from there.
This is a global issue, as well as a personal one. To strive towards a cultural and natural equilibrium, we must strive for equilibrium within ourselves. To strive towards a culture of non-violence and love, we must start with our own lives.
I'm going to go do some yoga.
We watched a movie the other day - a Japanese anime flick called Princess Mononoke - which captures some of the complexity of environmentalism in a way that I have not seen in Western films. That is to say, it recognizes that there can be good in those destroying nature, that there are trade-offs to be made between the welfare of people and the environment, and it seems to, rather than champion the people or champion the environment, call for balance and non-violence, and ask the people to back off a bit to regain this balance. Balance. It got me thinking about how little balance there is on any side of this issue (global warming). Even with potential solutions - biofuels for example - proponents push them to the extreme, rather than letting them fill a niche where they make sense - finding balance. People and issues are polarized. Another word for balance is equilibrium. We (humans) are out of equilibrium - pushing both our consumption and our population well beyond a point that the Earth can sustain. And we are all encouraged to take sides, but perhaps what we need to work towards is a philosophy of balance rather than one specific solution or another - everything in moderation, the golden mean - and to recognize that we are taking more than our fair share.
In yoga class the other day, my teacher talked about the philosophy of non-violence, another word for which is "love," telling us not to push ourselves too hard, or we defeat the purpose of the practice. If we can practice non-violence - love - towards ourselves, we can begin to practice it towards the world. She was talking specifically about yoga, but her words apply to my entire life. I have not been practicing "non-violence" or "love" towards myself, of late. The incessant deadlines, late nights, the stress, the perfectionism, the ever-expanding work week - this is not love. For both my sanity and to improve the impact and benefit of my work, I need to strive to find a place of balance, to practice "non-violence," and let my work come from there.
This is a global issue, as well as a personal one. To strive towards a cultural and natural equilibrium, we must strive for equilibrium within ourselves. To strive towards a culture of non-violence and love, we must start with our own lives.
I'm going to go do some yoga.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Let it snow!
I don't really like winter that much. Well, it's hard to like winter because I don't actually like being cold. I know, that's kind of anathema coming from a Mainer living in Vermont, but it's true. And winter and I, we got off on a really bad foot recently - well, I lost my footing and landed on the pavement. It's been rainy, sleety, icy, snowy, 45 degrees then frozen again. In February.
They say Vermont will have the climate of Virginia in 50 years under higher emissions scenarios and the climate of North Carolina in 100 years - "can't you just see the sunshine..." But the road to Carolina weather is dangerously slick, and it's getting to me.
And then it snowed. It snowed and snowed and snowed. And this blanketing white, quieting everything, bending the pine bows deep, has pacified me, too. And I walk through the soft, peaceful wood at dusk, admiring the beauty of the world etched in black and white, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to indulge my nostalgia - to remember what winter really is.
They say Vermont will have the climate of Virginia in 50 years under higher emissions scenarios and the climate of North Carolina in 100 years - "can't you just see the sunshine..." But the road to Carolina weather is dangerously slick, and it's getting to me.
And then it snowed. It snowed and snowed and snowed. And this blanketing white, quieting everything, bending the pine bows deep, has pacified me, too. And I walk through the soft, peaceful wood at dusk, admiring the beauty of the world etched in black and white, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to indulge my nostalgia - to remember what winter really is.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Vote! - the 2 weapons of climate action - personal and political
Get out and vote! It's SUPER TUESDAY!! If you still haven't decided yet, check out Grist: http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/2/4/23617/54464
There are two ways to combat climate change - personal action and political action. We need both. Unfortunately, all too often, climate activists will do one or the other but not both. This is a little like equipping our army - some with shields, and some with swords, but none with both. We would be twice as effective if we all had both swords and shields. There appears to be a division in personality types, however. I'm sure you all know the archetypes I refer to: the Personal Activist - your friend who wears only hemp and never showers, but, ooops!, forgot to vote in the 2004 Presidential Election; or the Political Activist - your neighbor who chairs three amazing non-profits, but, ooops!, drives an SUV and owns three homes.
To the Personal Activist: I know, I know, you're an idealist - you don't like the dirty game of politics. You don't want to vote for a candidate who doesn't perfectly represent your values, and who, God forbid, compromises. Think of political action as comparable to taking out the compost - it stinks a little, and you might get your hands dirty, but it's better for the Earth.
To the Political Activist: I know, I know, it's hard to say 'no' when excess and luxury are available to you (and all of society is telling you to go get it). But, think how much more politically effective you'll be if those intent on undermining you can no longer use "hypocrisy" as their weapon. I'm not saying you have to be perfect, just a little better. Besides, personal action can be glamorous, too. The most gourmet meal I ever ate was all locally grown. Biking to work keeps your physique healthy, and if you telecommute, you don't have to change out of your silk bathrobe ;)
Let's equip our army with both swords and shields - not just one or the other.
Get out and vote! (and drive less) :)
There are two ways to combat climate change - personal action and political action. We need both. Unfortunately, all too often, climate activists will do one or the other but not both. This is a little like equipping our army - some with shields, and some with swords, but none with both. We would be twice as effective if we all had both swords and shields. There appears to be a division in personality types, however. I'm sure you all know the archetypes I refer to: the Personal Activist - your friend who wears only hemp and never showers, but, ooops!, forgot to vote in the 2004 Presidential Election; or the Political Activist - your neighbor who chairs three amazing non-profits, but, ooops!, drives an SUV and owns three homes.
To the Personal Activist: I know, I know, you're an idealist - you don't like the dirty game of politics. You don't want to vote for a candidate who doesn't perfectly represent your values, and who, God forbid, compromises. Think of political action as comparable to taking out the compost - it stinks a little, and you might get your hands dirty, but it's better for the Earth.
To the Political Activist: I know, I know, it's hard to say 'no' when excess and luxury are available to you (and all of society is telling you to go get it). But, think how much more politically effective you'll be if those intent on undermining you can no longer use "hypocrisy" as their weapon. I'm not saying you have to be perfect, just a little better. Besides, personal action can be glamorous, too. The most gourmet meal I ever ate was all locally grown. Biking to work keeps your physique healthy, and if you telecommute, you don't have to change out of your silk bathrobe ;)
Let's equip our army with both swords and shields - not just one or the other.
Get out and vote! (and drive less) :)
Monday, February 4, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Music: "Global Warming Revolution Mix"
In all my spare time (ha!), I made myself a "Global Warming Revolution Mix." Yes, there is an element of humor in this, but that's not its only purpose. Here's my musical selection - if you have additions to recommend, please let me know (particularly if you can think of any more female singers - sadly underrepresented in this mix):
- "Global Warning" by Steel Pulse (album: African Holocaust)
- "East to the West" by Michael Franti and Spearhead (album: Yell Fire!)
- "Excuse Me Mr." by Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals (album: Live From Mars, Disk 1)
- "Get up, Stand up" by Bob Marley and the Wailers
- "Rock the Nation" by Michael Franti and Spearhead (album: Stay Human)
- "Coming War" by Ozomotli (album: Ozomotli)
- "Blood and Fire" by Manu Chao (Radio Bemba)
- "Everybody Ona Move" by Michael Franti and Spearhead (Yell Fire!)
- "Mosh" by Eminem (Encore)
- "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell (Ladies of the Canyon)
Saturday, February 2, 2008
MetaBlogging
This is a little like performing a psychology experiment on myself. So, I know I'm an environmentalist and I care (a lot) about climate change, but blogging about it is actually changing my behavior! It's kind of like those experiments (which I learned about in my Environmental Communication class as an undergrad), where they get people to sign a petition that says something like "Recycling matters" (I don't remember the exact details - see Fostering Sustainable Behavior), and then, just because they signed a petition, those people are much more likely to recycle. It's even more effective if their names are published in the newspaper. It takes advantage of our aversion to cognitive dissonance and our desire to appear consistent to our peers.
Apparently I've just performed the same experiment on myself. I would really like to go to Jamaica for March break. Yes, I would like to lie on the beach in the sun for a week and read books about fluff and adventure. I've been working way too hard for too long, in snowy, gray, icy, cold Vermont, and I'd like to recharge my batteries. But I can't do it. I can't reconcile writing about my constant worries about climate (in public, no less) with dumping a ton or so of CO2 in the atmosphere just for a change of scenery. Especially when I'm already planning on traveling a substantial amount this year (again, I am no climate saint). Would I have done it if I hadn't started this blog? Probably. I probably would have offset it, but that's not the point.
It's odd - I thought I was already making significant lifestyle change, and I am, but mostly where it suits me. I don't really like shopping and I don't like driving, so I consume less and I walk/bike/bus as much as possible. I like going to the farmer's market and cooking, so I eat more locally. But this is a different sort of lifestyle change - I really want to go to Jamaica. It's rewarding, in a way, to know I have it in me. It's like accomplishing a physical feat I had no idea was possible - that I hadn't even really fully considered (who knew that not going to Jamaica could yield such personal growth :)).
So, we're going to try to have fun closer to home. Our brainstorms so far involve taking the bus up to Montreal, skiing, hosting a beach party (turning the heat up and serving Mojitos), and turning off the computer - no work allowed. Really, it's not much of a sacrifice when put in proper perspective ;).
Apparently I've just performed the same experiment on myself. I would really like to go to Jamaica for March break. Yes, I would like to lie on the beach in the sun for a week and read books about fluff and adventure. I've been working way too hard for too long, in snowy, gray, icy, cold Vermont, and I'd like to recharge my batteries. But I can't do it. I can't reconcile writing about my constant worries about climate (in public, no less) with dumping a ton or so of CO2 in the atmosphere just for a change of scenery. Especially when I'm already planning on traveling a substantial amount this year (again, I am no climate saint). Would I have done it if I hadn't started this blog? Probably. I probably would have offset it, but that's not the point.
It's odd - I thought I was already making significant lifestyle change, and I am, but mostly where it suits me. I don't really like shopping and I don't like driving, so I consume less and I walk/bike/bus as much as possible. I like going to the farmer's market and cooking, so I eat more locally. But this is a different sort of lifestyle change - I really want to go to Jamaica. It's rewarding, in a way, to know I have it in me. It's like accomplishing a physical feat I had no idea was possible - that I hadn't even really fully considered (who knew that not going to Jamaica could yield such personal growth :)).
So, we're going to try to have fun closer to home. Our brainstorms so far involve taking the bus up to Montreal, skiing, hosting a beach party (turning the heat up and serving Mojitos), and turning off the computer - no work allowed. Really, it's not much of a sacrifice when put in proper perspective ;).
Friday, February 1, 2008
Looking up
Focus the Nation is now finally revving into high gear. In fact, it feels to me like all things climate-related are in high gear. Students packed the room yesterday to hear Judy Bonds rage against mountain-top coal removal. I surreptitiously scanned the room - I was not the only one to shed a few tears at her proclamations.
Which made me feel a little better about this whole blog thing. I've been feeling a bit like Debbie Downer lately. But I'm certainly not the only one upset by this (nor am I upset by it all the time). But not feeling at liberty to talk about it for fear of seeming like Debbie Downer (which, by the way, is a good laugh), is a problem.
Which made me feel a little better about this whole blog thing. I've been feeling a bit like Debbie Downer lately. But I'm certainly not the only one upset by this (nor am I upset by it all the time). But not feeling at liberty to talk about it for fear of seeming like Debbie Downer (which, by the way, is a good laugh), is a problem.
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