Opinion: Love Justice And Climate Change. Examples Of Climate Action And An Invitation To Join In 

In my previous post I offered some “tips on stepping up our climate action” and encouraged us all to take action more frequently despite any feelings of discouragement or despair. I proposed that we each 1) decide to act, 2)take some action, 3) be pleased that we have acted, 4) repeat the first 3 steps again, over and over. While I mentioned some possible actions in that post, it seems that some more specific, personal examples might be useful.

I’m not yet as bold and effective in my climate action as I aspire to be, but I do persist and do a number of things that are helping me get connected to other people and, I believe, make a difference. In the hope that these examples will lead you to think further about what you want to do, here are a few of the things I’ve been engaged in recently.

Federal Officials
I learned, through an email from 350.org, that a federal judge voided a huge sale of drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico that the federal government had recently completed. This is such good news, because it keeps fossil fuels in the ground! 350.org is organizing a campaign to pressure the Deptartment of the Interior and Secretary Deb Haaland, not to appeal the ruling. At their suggestion, I called the Department of the Interior and left a voicemail (using 350’s template) urging the Administration to accept the cancelling of the leases. I also retweeted a tweet that went to both the White House and Deptartment of the Interior with the same message. (I pay almost no attention to Twitter, but I’ve learned enough to participate in organized twitter “storms” to public officials.)

I signed up for 350.org emails months ago by going to 350.org and clicking the “Join In” button. You can unsubscribe at any time. In addition to action notices, they will send you more fundraising emails than you want. I handle that by deciding at the beginning of the year how much I will donate for the year. I donate that much and then delete all future fundraising emails guilt-free. To me it’s worth it, because I get updates and action opportunities like the one above, fairly often. The Inside the Movement website also offers multiple quick action opportunities, as do the “Take Action” pages at both Sierra Club and Greenpeace.

Ring Those Bells
An activist friend told me that local churches are taking turns ringing their bells for 11 minutes, at 11AM, on the 11th day of each month to alert the public that we are seriously at the 11th hour of the climate crisis (i.e. immediate action is needed). I emailed two friends inviting them to join me for this action. One of them did and a group of 15 of us took turns pulling the rope to manually ring the heavy bell in the bell tower of a nearby church. Despite the seriousness of the moment, it was great to be part of a group publicly expressing our support for bold climate action. We had fun shaking, blowing, and beating on other noisemakers while the bells were ringing. After 11 minutes of ringing and some brief introductions and photos, we each went on with the rest of our day. I was pleased to involve my friend who hasn’t been much of an activist on climate before. We got some nice coverage in the newspaper, so the action reached many people. In my town local faith communities are taking turns hosting the bell-ringing.

Two other friends of mine living in a different part of the country learned about this and approached a church near them with this idea. They connected with some key individuals, and got the 11th hour bell-ringing started at that church. They met some new like-minded neighbors this way. You could probably do something similar.

Call A Friend – Talk And Listen About Climate
Here’s an action that everyone could do this week, and every week. I had to push myself though some nervousness and apprehension, but I called a friend who isn’t really a climate activist. My goal was not to recruit her to anything. I just wanted to get her mind engaged on the climate crisis, listen to her feelings about climate, and deepen my connection with her. I said I’d been thinking a lot about climate change recently but I sometimes feel somewhat alone with it. I said I was hoping we could chat for 15 minutes so I could hear what she thinking or feeling, and maybe share a few thoughts of my own.

She was agreeable, so I asked, “What’s your reaction to the idea that we are in a climate crisis?” She immediately said she felt terrified and overwhelmed. As the conversation went on I tried to listen more than talk, but also to be open about my own fears and caring. I asked, “What gives you hope with regard to climate?” and “What scares you or discourages you the most?” We had a really interesting conversation and she thanked me for it later. She’s now at least considering taking more action. I’m confident that getting more people thinking and not being alone with the climate crisis will move things forward. I hope you’ll make some calls and try this.

Join A Campaign With A Local Climate Organization
Most local climate organizations have one or more campaigns that they are engaged in and would welcome you to join. In my experience you can just show up occasionally to swell the numbers or you can get very involved. I recently stood out on a street corner holding a sign that said “Stop the Toxic Pipeline” as part of a campaign to build public support for stopping a proposed pipeline. I also meet monthly with a working group that prepares anti-racism segments for each of a local climate organization’s monthly meetings.  I’ve found good camaraderie and a sense of purpose in these groups. Other groups in that organization are working on state legislation, on stopping the “money pipeline”, and on forests, farming and food. I invite you to contact a local climate organization and see if they have a campaign you could help with.

Some of you may be doing bigger, bolder things than I am; and some of you may not be taking much action yet. It’s always a good time to get more engaged in action to help build the movement and stop climate change. Actions that don’t mean much from a single person become powerful when many people do them. If we each take some action and encourage others to join us, the cumulative effects can be tremendous.

More possible actions are listed toward the end of another earlier post.

Russ Vernon-Jones was principal of Fort River School 1990-2008 and is currently a member of the Amherst Community Safety Working Group and of the Steering Committee of Climate Action Now-Western Massachusetts. He blogs regularly on climate justice at www.russvernonjones.org.