Winning battles. Losing the war.
WE ARE currently winning the renewable energy battles—while still losing the global emissions war. Those two opposing realities can result in paralyzing anxiety, despair and lethargy. We cannot go there. We are smarter than that. But climate crisis realities are daunting.
While the positive renewables news implies we are reducing emissions, we are not. In fact, our global output of CO2 continues to increase every year. It is literally off the chart, into the realm of climate chaos. Renewables haven’t stopped it. Climate accords haven’t stopped it. Increasing public concern hasn’t stopped it. This is very bad news.
Given those facts, Climateers optimistic, upbeat approach might appear naive, but it’s grounded in the realities of our human psyche. Evolution gave us both the intelligence to create (and solve) the climate crisis and a hardwired instinctual survival system that fiercely resists perceiving and acting on this dire threat.
The climate crisis is abstract. It’s invisible. It makes no threatening sounds and emits no foul odors. We experience the catastrophic disasters it causes, but we never experience it. Yet, to effectively deal with this elusive “it,” we must fundamentally change our lives, giving up tangible comforts and conveniences to solve an intangible crisis. All of us. All at once. Humans are not built for this; our instincts betray us.
So we must choose to override our instinctual system or we are doomed. That means we have to consciously choose to engage our uniquely powerful rational brains, our phenomenal powers of imagination, and our personal social networks—as in: each other!—to inspire us to act and keep acting.
We can solve this problem if we put our minds to it. Literally. But our intention must include joy and celebration or we’re not likely to do it.
So, join the fun. It’s the smart thing to do.
