Turning climate concern into productive action, one hour a week
We’re living through a climate emergency of epic proportions. Scientific data clearly demonstrate how rapid warming is changing our planet, making it increasingly inhospitable. Health professionals at the frontlines routinely deal with the fallout from extreme heat and polluted air, which disproportionately harm human health and claim lives in poor communities and communities of color. There’s nothing mysterious about the cause of global warming (carbon pollution), or the source of the pollution (burning fossil fuels).
Unfortunately, in spite of all this clarity and scientific consensus, there are some basic questions that elude too many well-intentioned people: who’s to blame for this monumental crisis? What are the biggest levers on climate solutions? How can I be a productive part of the solution? This confusion is the intended outcome of a carefully crafted disinformation campaign and has long stymied progress on tackling the climate crisis.
Sure, the fossil fuel industry is an obvious villain. But there’s a much longer list of enablers, whose jobs are—ironically—to represent the best interests of their constituents: legislators who have been paid to obstruct powerful legislation that would incentivize climate solutions. Predictably, thanks to the millions and millions of dollars in election support for climate obstructionists at the highest levels of government, polluters win lots of legislative battles.
With clarity about the enablers comes clarity about the biggest lever on climate solutions, that this is squarely a political problem. And the most productive way to engage with climate solutions is to overcome the “ick” factor and “get political.” The politics of climate can be complicated and nuanced, but there’s also plenty of no-brainer territory. In the electoral landscape, general elections often pit a climate candidate against a climate action obstructionist; in those contests, the highest-leverage action meets the lowest-hanging fruit. Time, resources, and financial contributions spent in support of climate candidates amount to heavy-hitting climate action. In the policy advocacy landscape, there is plenty of room to steer clear of controversial policy nuance and make a passionate, authentic plea for policymakers to prioritize life-saving policies that are rooted in science and center justice.
I co-created Climate Changemakers because there are still far too many people on the sidelines, and this crisis clearly calls for a mass mobilization. We are a nonpartisan, inclusive, digital community of individuals turning climate concern into high-impact action together, one hour a week. We make it easy, fun, and habit-forming to plug in for political action in the name of climate progress. It’s civic engagement as a team sport.
In 3 months, our community has swelled into an over-400-member civilian climate corps of all ages. We’ve logged a staggering 1,000+ hours of impact. We’re partnering with existing climate organizations with a synergistic and collaborative spirit (yes! the more disruptive ones and the business-friendly ones all have lots of common ground). Our actions are targeted and high-impact: we’re helping to elect climate leaders, and we’re demanding leadership that is focused on ever bigger, faster, bolder, and more just climate action to meet the scale of the crisis.
Our message is: don’t get hung up on the complexity of the issue. You don’t need to read another book on climate before you roll up your sleeves. Don’t get lost down the rabbit hole of troubleshooting your personal carbon footprint, a trap set by the oil industry to offload accountability onto consumers. Of course, whenever you can switch to an electric vehicle, fly less, eat sustainably, and swap out your lightbulbs, please do so—but don’t miss the forest for the trees. Most importantly, preserve your mental health by limiting the doom-scrolling. Collective action is a fulfilling antidote to the doom and gloom. Join us and become a climate changemaker. You can find us at www.climatechangemakers.org (@theclimatevote on Twitter and Instagram).
© 2022 Climate Changemakers
