By Karen Melton, Member, Southeastern Pennsylvania Group; Sylvanian Volunteer
With a new administration in place that is clearly determined to speed the pace of heating up and polluting the planet, many of us are struggling to find our way forward. The most common lament I hear is, “I did this already”’ and the most common approach to avoid despair is reading less news. With climate change one of the most significant challenges ever faced by the modern world, I believe all tactics are needed – from those who face down tanker ships in kayaks or chain themselves to drilling rigs, to those who hold respectful meetings and send letters to their elected officials. Finding where you belong on the broad spectrum of activism can be its own challenge, as well as finding organizations that fit.
Two books I happened to recently read back-to-back could not have better spelled out this spectrum. In Terrible Beauty: Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul, author Auden Schendler, having spent a career in sustainability, argues that we have allowed ourselves to be distracted by ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance – the business framework of sustainability) from the real work that is needed, whether in our workplaces or our personal lives. We recycle instead of fighting to stop plastic production; we drive more efficient cars instead of fighting for public transit; the fossil fuel industry has won the war, having convinced us that it is all a matter of personal practices – we just need to do a better job managing our takeout containers. “You can think of ESG management as a more rigorous way of doing very little,” says Schendler.
In chapters such as “Why Environmentalism Lost its Way and How to Bring it Back” and “The False Promise of Corporate Carbon Neutrality,” Terrible Beauty walks us through the ways in which activists have been co-opted. “Systemic change is the only path to climate stability but the systems that have been put in place ensure all efforts are confined to activities that do not threaten the fossil fuel economy.” Schendler has prescriptions for change, starting with democracy and equity.
In Be the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution by Peter Kalmus, a NASA climate scientist and author, Kalmus talks about how and why he opted “out of a broken system” and worked his way to a life of reflection and minimal carbon footprint. He also provides an excellent overview of climate science and global warming impacts. It is available to read online here.
Kalmus also has prescriptions for collective action, after changing oneself. They include implementing a fee on carbon with the revenue returned to U.S. households, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, implementing serious energy efficiency policies, and others related to money in politics and global trade.
As much as I enjoyed and recommend both of these books, in my years as a climate activist, I have not found it necessary to operate only at one extreme or the other. I am always trying to ratchet down my use of fossil fuels – we need to change our relationship with fossil-based energy, something we can all be working on. I also meet with my elected officials and engage in activist efforts across the spectrum in between (short of kayaking). I encourage new volunteers to seek the level of engagement that fits rather than insist everyone has to get out of their comfort zone. If your best skills lie in your comfort zone, that may be where you can have the most impact.
Maybe we already know our way forward – maybe we just need to take a deep breath, decide what issues to work on right here, right now, focus on those using whatever skills we have to offer, and yes, for the next several years, read a lot less news.
This blog was included as part of the February 2025 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!