I am a Climate Leader

Monday, August 27, 2012

Toward the end of the Climate Reality Project training with Vice President Al Gore, one of the participants approached a microphone and asked what we should call ourselves.  What title is assigned to the thousand new volunteers who have stepped into the breach to try, along with the 3,500 previously trained participants, to deliver a message of rapid and necessary change?

At one point during the 2.5 days we spent together, Vice President Gore had referred to us as the "calvary;" but that wouldn't provide the required level of specificity to those newly introduced to us.  We were told that we are "Climate Leaders."  I am a Climate Leader.  Now I guess I had better ramp up my game to act like one.

Throughout this process I have been thinking of our comforts - the reasons that we turn a blind eye to the drastic and horrifying changes that surround us.  Why is it that we cling to the cold comfort of denial?

I have a secret...  I, too, like this dirty power that we use.  I like my computer, my television, my car.  Until we are at the point that these things simply aren't available, I don't think we will be able to find a winning answer that includes asking us to step away, to step back, from any of the things we have today, whether they be cars, computers, or ubiquitous hot water.

The bigger issue is that there are no readily available alternatives. And why is that?  Why can't I get renewable (solar, wind, wave) power from my power company today?

Because the few that are at the top of this power struggle, the people who have amassed power and wealth (lobbyists for coal and oil interests) have skewed things in their favor.  This should not be news... but maybe it is.

Think about it. Throughout history this pattern has repeated itself - Whatever is scarce and highly in demand is "sold" as the most desirable and as a status symbol.  It is then tightly managed by a few powerful, wealthy people until something happens to either commoditize the item or make it irrelevant.  Salt, sugar, and spices have all been down this path.  In dangerous times, religions have been the item at hand.

We must first see the noose that binds us, and then speak out demanding change.  I firmly believe that if we, as a people, demand better options, they will magically appear - it is simply a matter of getting the demand to critical mass.

I have been taking very small personal steps, and feeling hopeless and helpless toward the bigger picture.  That has to change.  Personal action matters, but I am a Climate Leader, and personal action is a very indirect form of leadership.

The presentation that I am going to be sharing with anyone and everyone that I can has three requests.  Speak up.  Deepen your commitment.  Don't give up.

I am going to speak up.  Consistently, and loudly.
I have deepened my commitment.
I will not give up.


  

A l l   l i v i n g   b e i n g s   a r e   i n   j e o p a r d y.

  

...won't you join me?