Today, we face two emergencies: COVID-19 and climate change. One causes death quickly. The other is a cancer, often asymptomatic, but if not treated, can lead to death.
They are different, and yet the same. If we do not act, the outcome is clear. The solution to both, as noted on an Extinction Rebellion FaceBook page, is also the same: “flatten the curve.” In the case of the COVID the curve is bell-shaped. In the case of climate change, it is the hockey stick curve made famous by Al Gore. That is our job, and it is daunting.
I recently re-listened to a TED talk by Greta Thunberg — she asks — the facts are clear, why don’t people act? I have often asked myself that same question!
I was not aware of the first Earth Day in 1970. I am told it was born out of the realization of how fragile our Earth is … a blue sphere floating in the universe — as seen from space for the first time in 1968.
Earth Day 1970 unleashed actions to support our Mother Earth! Under Republican rule, Richard Nixon passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and established the EPA to implement and oversee progress.
In 1970 I was in Japan studying ceramics, but it was not until 1974 that I started to understand the concept of sustainability and what it could look like. I was working as a potter in North Leverett using clay shipped to me from China, and fossil fuels to fire my wares. In Japan I had seen whole towns devoted to making pots because they had clay under their feet, and wood all around them to fire their wares. That is what sustainability should look like, I thought … people working together locally, using local materials, producing something society needs.
Japan has survived for thousands of years, not just hundreds like the USA. Its ethic of working for the betterment of the whole of society is palpable, as is its connection to nature, respect for and all living creatures, with humans as a part of that whole.
As an energy nerd, I am excited about the Green New Deal and the emergence of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez! The Green New Deal embraces more than just technology. It promotes respect for all people living in harmony with nature. It would create living wage jobs and put in place systems that can be sustained over the long term.
Recently National Geographic reported, that we can now produce electricity cheaper with wind and solar than with fossil fuels, including natural gas. So, the Green New Deal has the potential of leading us to equity and prosperity — if we embrace it!
Change is hard, but let’s look at what makes us feel secure.
Does our military make us feel more secure? Is it focusing on the right emergency? Our military leaders have named climate change a threat — a threat to political stability worldwide as ecosystems degrade and food becomes scarcer. But our military focuses on the symptom of unrest, rather than working to relieve the cause.
What would make us feel more secure against diseases like COVID-19? Scientists, when talking of COVID-19 point to overpopulation and living in closer proximity with animals as a cause as well as air pollution, and other environmental degradations, that are making us all more vulnerable to disease.
What about food security? What would make us feel more secure that pollinators will be around so that we have food? And what would assure us that the world as we know it, with all its amazing plants and animals, will thrive?
Let us all ponder these facts and commit to do one thing in the next month to celebrate and support Mother Earth.
Here are two ideas of what we could do while sequestered….
Write a letter to President Trump expressing your desire for our government to protect us from COVID-19 and from climate change. Copy the letter to our federal and state representatives, and share your letter with the Recorder.
Plant a tree, shrub, or flower native to our area, and build habitat for those that we share the Earth with. Why native? Only native plants play major roles in the lives of insects including pollinators, birds, and mammals that live in our area.
Let’s move forward with a vision of a better world — a world where we work toward the betterment of the whole — Where all critters on Earth, including humans, are treated with respect, and love.
Nancy Hazard is a member of Greening Greenfield and the Sustainable Greenfield Implementation Committee, and former director of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association. She can be reached at Nancy.Hazard@WorldSustain.net.