How to Demand Action on Climate Change
Illustration: Chelsea Beck
Leigh Anderson
Filed to: Climate ChangeFiled to: Climate Change
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Last week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report—a klaxon, really—warning of the catastrophic consequences of climate change if global political leaders don't take action right now. For people who've been sounding the alarm for decades now, this report is depressing but not surprising; for those of us who've not paid as much attention to the science as we should have, the report is a blaring wake-up call. No matter which group you're in, though, the path forward is clear: We need to pressure our elected leaders, corporations, and even our friends and neighbors to change our ways or we will be witnessing rising sea levels, natural disasters, war, famine and a refugee crisis the likes of which the world has never seen. As the New York Times writes, "the world must utterly transform its energy systems in the next decade or risk ecological and social disaster."
"The first thing that someone can do," says Michael Brune, the executive director for the Sierra Club, "is to remember that you have power."
In the face of enormous, apparently intractable social problems, individual action can seem puny and inconsequential. (And indeed, just 100 companies are responsible for 71 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, which can make your rinsing out your tuna cans seem like an absurd bit of private theater.) But collectively we actually can slow climate change: "The first thing that someone can do," says Michael Brune, the executive director for the Sierra Club, "is to remember that you have power. As a citizen, a consumer, an investor, as a human being, you have the power to effect really great change." Here's how to get started.
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Know Where Your Elected Officials Stand
If you think that everyone's pretty much on board with the fact of climate change, you're in for a rude awakening: More than half of Congress are climate-change deniers (and are largely, but not exclusively, Republicans). Want to see how enlightened your rep is on the issue? Check out this handy list of all the climate-change deniers in Congress. You know the drill: Call, write, email, protest, and above all, vote.
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Focus on State and Local Government
Municipalities, collectively, might be able to do more than Washington. After President Trump decided to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, a coalition of mayors pledged to meet the targets anyway. As Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City who coordinated the effort, writes in the Times, "More than 130 American cities have joined the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, and all are determined to see that we meet our Paris goal." Start going to your city council meetings, or at least follow the reporters or environmental advocates who are covering those meetings. Does your city have a sustainability office or a committee on the environment? Does your local university have a sustainability office you can communicate with about local efforts? If you truly turn up nothing, check out the Climate Resilience Toolkit for step-by-step instructions on addressing climate change in your community.
"Who you vote for for mayor, or who's on your city council, is really important," says Brune. If you want your community to be powered by clean energy, you need to vote and agitate at the local level.
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Brune also points out that governors who believe in and are addressing climate change have made more economic opportunity for their constituents: see New Jersey, Illinois, California, Massachusetts. So hold your governor's feet to the fire and volunteer for the candidates you think have the best handle on the climate change/economic-opportunity intersection. For a quick way to check out how a federal candidate leans, go to the Sierra Club's endorsement page. For state and local races, contact your local chapter of the Sierra Club—some states offer "legislative scorecards."
Take Action Yourself
"The very first thing you have to do is take action yourself," says David Miller, the North American regional director for the C40 cities' climate leadership group. When you talk to your elected officials and they ask, "well, what are you doing?" you want to have a ready answer. "Do you take transit? Can you make choices in your own personal transportation? If you drive, can you take transit even one day a week? If you take transit, can you walk more, can you bike more?...Can you choose an electric vehicle over a gas-powered vehicle?" Miller acknowledges that your personal action will depend on your personal circumstances, but that collectively these decisions can have a huge impact.
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You can ask yourself the same questions about dozens of relatively small lifestyle choices:
Can you eat a more "climate-friendly" diet? Can you cut down on meat and animal products? (This doesn't have to mean going fully vegetarian or vegan—you can just go "reducetarian." Really, if you can just limit or eliminate beef and pork you'd be doing a lot. )
Can you waste less food and compost the scraps? Food waste is a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. "Is there a compost program [in your community?" says Miller. "Can you organize with others to push your municipal representatives to do something?"
Can you stop with all the disposables? I love a ziplock bag and a big cup of coffee as much as the next parent, but I try really hard to use reusable containers for lunches and to bring a to-go cup for coffee. If you want to get fanatical about never buying something, make it bottled water, a scourge upon the planet.
Can you, in general, just buy less stuff? Especially plastic toys, for kids, which aren't usually recyclable and aren't in play for very long, anyway. The holidays are coming—what if you gave and asked for experiences instead of things? You'd probably be happier.
Can you make your home more energy-efficient? Can you find out if your workplace is energy-efficient?
If you're thinking about buying a new car, can you test drive a Bolt or a Prius? Do you really need a car at all? Can you lobby for better transit and cycling lanes in your town or arrange a car pool with fellow commuters or parents?
Who are you doing business with? Don't support banks that aren't investing in solutions, says Brune, specifically calling out Bank of America's support for fracking. Switch to a socially responsible bank. If you have investments, consider "impact investing."
Want more ideas, from the very easy "don't put stuff on your car roof?" to the even easier "replace your lightbulbs"? Check out these suggestions from the Natural Resources Defense Council.
These efforts might seem inconsequential, like rinsing out the tuna cans, above, but if you're also leaning on your friends and neighbors, and your employer, and your local government, small actions will start to snowball. And regarding those 100 companies that are the big villains in climate change, Miller points out that changing your behavior to not support environmentally-damaging sectors of the economy—by, for example, choosing public transit over cars—you are effecting change. "You're making choices with your pocketbook." A million small choices add up.
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Influence Your Friends and Neighbors
"Speaking up actually matters," says Miller. "Building a political movement requires knowledgeable, engaged people who work together on an issue." If fighting climate change is your new passion, or even your old passion, don't keep it to yourself. And you don't have to take a finger-wagging tack—start with the positive: "So many things are happening that are inspiring," says Miller. "This is a movement that is based on making lives better." You can talk about how great electric cars are now, or how much you're enjoying the health benefits of cycling and don't want to be hit by a car (this is my personal strategy) or how cities around the world are buying fleets of electric buses.
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It's important to influence our elected officials, of course, but as the saying goes, "there go the people. I must follow them, for I am their leader." Changing representatives' minds means changing their constituents' minds. "The most important thing to influence elected officials is a general understanding amongst people that something is the right thing to do," says Miller.
This is also where Facebook activism comes in—even if you're just posting about what changes individuals can make, you might influence someone to re-think what kind of car they need, or even if they need a car at all. This doesn't have to mean scare-mongering or guilt-tripping—keeping a positive and helpful tone is critical. The posts from friends that make me listen usually involve events, like fundraising bike rides or postcard-writing parties—fun things that make activism social. "We're doomed" is not going to inspire anyone to do anything.
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Start With Your Personal Interests and Your Own Community
I confess that while I have always been aware of climate change and vaguely hoping that politicians would do something, it hasn't been my number-one issue. But lately I've gotten into cycling, and so follow a lot of transportation-alternatives types on social media—which has changed how I think about cars, transit, and cities...which in turn has changed what I talk about with friends. A lot of people come to this topic through their own personal perspective, says Brune: grandparents who want their children to have a future that isn't impoverished because of climate change, parents and teachers who organize to have a strong science-based curriculum in schools.
Brune says, "A lot of people may be more conservative politically, but they run a company or they're active in the private sector, and want to make an economic argument in favor of taking action on climate change....We have seen people who organize through their church, to make a moral argument for why we should take stronger action in favor of clean energy. We've seen all these things be effective in their own right, but when they are coordinated together, you have a cacophony of voices all calling for stronger leadership."
So are you into education? Check out Climate Parents, follow the National Science Teachers' Association, and attend your local school board meetings to find out what the science curriculum is in your kid's school. Are you into gardening? Research how to get started with composting. Catholic? Read what the Pope has to say on climate change. (Jewish? Covered. Episcopalian? Covered.) Are you an engineer or architect? Are you an African-American person who wants to get into camping, or a Latino person who wants to connect with nature? Are you queer and interested in backpacking? I am going to guess that no matter your identity, hobbies, interests, or passions, you can hook up with some group that is enjoying nature and fighting climate change.
My personal next steps? Start going to my local meetings about transportation alternatives, and re-considering my banking. If you're stumped, look for your local chapter of the Sierra Club, or just find your greenest friend on Facebook and ask what to do. We've got a decade to turn things around, so pour yourself a coffee in a reusable mug, make yourself a vegetarian snack, and start planning. The future depends on it.
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Leigh Anderson is a writer and editor in Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of "The Games Bible: The Rules, The Gear, The Strategies."