We are racing down a mountain at full throttle. Our children are in the back seat. The speedometer is buried. The road curves sharply ahead. On the outside of the curve is a cliff with a 200 meter drop. On the other side is a vertical rock wall.
Here are some ideas I came up with to help push people into taking action. Sure we need systemic changes like ending car dependent cities and heavily reducing fossil fuel usage. Doing nothing is smashing through the guard rail and off the cliff. Doing one is slowing enough to MAYBE survive crashing into the mountain. Doing both is slowing down enough to navigate the curve.
There are some things we CAN do.
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Start spreading the word on social media for unofficial things like moo-less Monday. Don’t eat beef on Mondays. Weather Wednesday, where you adjust or turn off your HVAC. This could be a whole other thread.
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Start getting louder and louder. Remember, we need to both act AND influence enough people for systemic changes.
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Consume less. Be as efficient with resources as possible. There tons of things you can do here that are minimal effort and barely noticeable.
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Political action. Vote. Run if you are able. Contact politicians at all levels. Talk with people about things that have benefits beyond just climate. E.g. transit reduces traffic.
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Stay strong. Don’t succumb to doomerism.
As far as political action goes:
Get involved in campaigns. In the US that means financially supporting state and local candidates in the primary, as well as the presidential campaign and volunteering, not just voting. It’s important to vote in those primaries too, not just in the November 2024 general election; in most districts the primary determines who will hold the seat.
Besides contacting individual politicians, you can write letters to the editor of local news outlets, ideally connecting climate to local issues.
If you happen to be near New York City, there’s a major march planned for September 17