Dig in the Soil and… Speak Up!

Climate action = Democracy.
My weekend with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project.

3,000 people strong. Climate Reality Project Training. April 2024, NYC.

Earlier this month I spent three days in NYC with 3000 like-minded climate “activists” of all ages, from all walks of life, from all around the world. Our host was Al Gore, founder and fearless leader of the Climate Reality Project.

The weekend included a PowerPoint from the Vice President along with talks from climate scientists, community-based organizations, policy experts, influencers, Michael Regan, the head of the EPA, John Podesta, the Senior Advisor to the President on Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation. See the extraordinary lineup here.

I took away a number of important lessons from the weekend:

1. Our climate work needs to happen on many levels. (Action is the best remedy for any type of anxiety).

• Micro: Beneath our feet, in our backyards and our communities, digging in the soil and doing our best to restore soil health and biodiversity in our space. A space that we can directly impact every day. Take a Permaculture Design Course online or in your community.
• Macro, or systems level: Let-our-voices-be-heard to power, speak up for policy and business practices with our voices, pocketbooks and our networks to influence what is happening in our larger community, country and globally. The message from all of the civil servants at the conference is… we need to hear from you! Join the Climate Reality Project and download and use the app, Climate Action Now.

1. The topic is massively complex. Of course I knew that. But when 3 days of the complexity is presented, it looms large. Keep learning. Keep connecting the dots. Keep being curious. Don’t shut down. Follow the Union of Concerned Scientists.
2. Be part of nature. Get outside. Don’t be an armchair quarterback or a backseat driver, or whatever those expressions are. Walk. Run. Hike. Fly a kite. Garden.
3. There are positive strides being made. And without being Pollyanna, we have to put some head and heart power to those. Project Drawdown is built on what IS working.
4. No matter what happens, we need to adapt. Whether we choose to acknowledge the words of Heraclitus, “change is the only constant in life” or Benjamin Franklin, “When you are finished changing, you are finished,” make changes to your ways now. Every day. It is simply the responsible, resilient way to live.