Photo by Cesar Cid on Unsplash
Act One - I’d Love to Change the World
Every day we get a new, extremely dire prediction on the fate of the climate. Today we learned that the oceans are running out of oxygen.
What the hell?! you ask - oxygen in sea water is a thing? Well, yes. From time to time a giant school of anchovies will seek shelter in a small harbor, breathe all the oxygen and die. Now imagine that happening on a much bigger scale. Oxygen related die-offs have increased from a handful every year to around 700 - and the number is on the rise.
Anchovie die-off, Santa Cruz 2014 courtesy SF Gate
I, for one, would like to stop the ocean from dying. I’m willing to make significant adjustments to my life in order to make this happen. About 40% of Americans are with me on this.
How about you, in what ways would you love to change the world?
Act Two - But I Don’t Know What to Do
I know what needs to happen. But I don’t know how to get it done.
For starters we need to build a monorail that runs down the center of the 101 freeway. Every day I drive with thousands of other commuters along the 101 corridor, each of us going to pretty much the same destinations. And if there was a monorail, I’d take it.
Image: Los Angeles Magazine
There actually is a plan to build a monorail along the 405 in order to relieve congestion in time for the 2028 Olympics. But the plan is getting pushback from residents. So…nothing is likely to happen.
I like this monorail idea. Or light rail. Or heavy rail. Or busses. But I don’t know what I could do to help get things moving along.
Reasons for Climate Inaction
I suspect I’m not alone among people who would gladly make sacrifices in behalf of the planet - if only we had some reassurance those sacrifices were worth making.
Robert Gifford lists 33 reasons people don’t take action on improving the climate crisis.
Here are some of the reasons people like me are getting angrier about the shape of planet but not doing a damn thing about it:
We don’t know what to do - Giffords cites lack of knowledge as one of his 33 reasons for inaction. For instance, last year we learned that tossing plastic bottles into the recycling bin is only making ecological catastrophe worse, yet what else can we do?
We know what to do but we don’t want to do it - There’s a strong element of “you go first” when it comes to climate action. We’re happy to make sacrifices but not if we’re the only ones doing it.
What we’re willing to do is the wrong thing - Once upon a time we thought fuel efficient cars would reduce greenhouse gasses and give the planet a break. Turns out this thinking is wrong, a shift to higher fuel efficiency only results in more miles driven, to the point where we are exceeding the carbon output of more wasteful vehicles.
Act Three - So I’ll Leave it Up to You
I like to think of myself as a pretty smart guy with a pretty strong sense of “doing the right thing.” But I confess I’m stumped. I honestly don’t know what kind of action to take to help heal the planet.
So I need your help. If you have any better ideas, I’d love to hear them in comments.
Some things we can all do
One of the problems with climate action is that the consequences are so big and so far in the future. We can’t easily see if our efforts are doing any good. The Cool Climate Calculator helps you visualize your carbon footprint and see what changes could have the biggest impact.
We can also eat less meat. Following a Mediterranean diet is something my doctor says I should do anyhow, so it’s not so much a sacrifice as a healthy choice.
Reading more about climate change action is probably worth doing also.
But perhaps the most important thing you can do for the planet is to get more people to vote. Individual efforts are important but we need leadership to tackle some of the hard stuff.
That’s all I’ve got for now. I’ll leave you with this: