How Not to Despair When Facing a 1.5C Future

You and I are not to blame. The Systems bigger than us are. And yet, in some ways we are complicit in supporting those systems. Sometimes, it can't be helped, because it's the only choice. Living where I do, I have more capacity and therefore less excuse to be on auto-pilot with my choices, but with the myriad of choices I make in a day, it's tiring to analyze every single time what the impact of a choice will be. For every step forward in my sustainability journey, I feel sometimes as if I'm already two steps behind.

I drive (alas, yes) my youngest daughter to ballet, and almost every other vehicle on the road is an unburdened monster truck. Even if I owned an electric vehicle, Utah electricity comes from coal mostly, so even though I wouldn't be using gasoline, I'd still be supporting a fossil fuel industry. Coal is among the dirtiest of the fossil fuels, and Utah politicians cry "Jobs, jobs," when you speak of transitioning away from it. The only way around that in Utah is to install solar on your house to power your house and vehicles, which action is definitely on my to-do list, but that's not available to everyone. And Utah has plenty of sun to take advantage of solar.

As I've become more educated on the issue of Climate Change, I've become more judgmental. I don't like it. I don't want to shame anyone. Generally, I subscribe to "Live and let live," but what do you do when the house is on fire and you're running out of time waiting for people to wake up to that fact? You can't help but to start screaming.

Some may ask, "Why are you doing this to yourself? This Climate Change thing is a hoax. Things will work out. God will provide technology to save us. You should be more worried about your spiritual state than what we're doing to the earth."

Thing is: It's not a hoax, and we're running out of time debating it.

Go look at NASA's website about it. Read the IPCC report that just came out this week. Read Greta Thunberg's book The Climate Book, which makes a compelling case that we need to do something now. And then follow the money. Does it make sense that these scientists who say that climate change is real benefit from saying so as much as the Oil and Gas companies do from minimizing it and even placing the blame on us? Go look it up. Even BP and ExxonMobil acknowledge that Climate Change is real, but they'll tell you all the ways that they are working to transition without actually giving up their polluting businesses. ExxonMobil, in particular, knew in the late 80s that Climate Change was real, but they decided to go after profits instead of leading the transition away from fossil fuels.

How do you hold on to hope?

When faced with this existential crisis, going back to bed and pulling the sheets over your head cannot be the best action, as attractive as that sounds. It's better to do something, anything, to survive. So take a deep breath and try the following:

• Do What You Can: Even though our individual carbon footprint is a drop in the ocean compared to ExxonMobil or the other big polluters, do what you can to support the System less and promote transitioning away from it to alternatives. Anything helps, however small. Small and simple things bring about great things.
• Talk about Climate Change: Since most of the media isn't doing their job broadcasting the severity of the situation, building a grassroots movement by talking about it with your family, friends, neighbors, anyone who will listen is the next best thing.
• Act. Waiting is not helpful. Waiting for your neighbor to take the first step. Waiting for some miracle technology. Waiting for Jesus to come and clean things up. Waiting could mean generations pass and the situation only gets worse. In the matter of a mere 200 years or so, we have impacted the planet to such a degree that irreversible change has already occurred in many sectors. Species have gone extinct. The polar ice is melting. Coral reefs are dying. Dead whales are coming ashore with pounds and pounds of plastic in their digestive tracts. The countries that contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions are suffering the most from the natural disasters caused by Climate Change. The list goes on. We cannot wait.

The playwright Samuel Beckett has a play titled "Waiting for Godot." Two men sit on a park bench and talk while waiting for another guy named Godot to show up. Godot never shows up. They talk the whole play about how Godot is coming, but he never shows up, and nothing else gets done.

For those who do believe Jesus is coming, wouldn't it be better to present to Him a healthy Earth as the fruits of your stewardship?

Act positively for the planet. Now.

What do you do to stay hopeful in the face of Climate Change?