I am a person who has been pretty fixated on the health of our planet for most of my life, gun violence ever since I was 8 years old, and politics starting when I was about 30. This year and the previous few have felt particularly rough for obvious reasons.

I am grateful this year for Greta Thunberg and Jimmy Carter. Apparently it takes the brutal honesty of a child to get people's attention focused on the environmental disaster we are careening towards. Sadly it is human nature to pretend that really bad things, things bad beyond the power of our imagination, are not happening, can't happen. It is not as if the idea of human damage to our climate is a new revelation. We have known for a very long time. When I was a child, and Jimmy Carter was President, he put solar panels on the White House, we didn't run the air conditioning in the summer unless it was very, very hot, we did not leave our cars idling if we were not in the actual act of driving somewhere. Carter spoke to the citizens of the United States about the energy crisis in the form of "Fireside Chats," and called what we were facing the "moral equivalent of war." This was a very serious thing, and we all needed to do something about it and we all felt empowered to play a role and do what we could. I, and everyone I knew, took it to heart and took it very seriously. We were making steps towards saving the climate that made life on earth pleasant. What happened?

Apparently, people did not want to hear that they had to be hot, or cold, wear a sweater, turn a light off, take public transportation, or be inconvenienced in any way at all. The political price that Jimmy Carter and the rest of the human race paid came in the form of Ronald Reagan. He immediately removed the solar panels from the White House and began the process of stripping away actions that had been taken to uplift renewable resources, preserve our natural environment, and protect consumer health and safety. It was decided that the forward march of capitalism was more important than a timely reaction to the looming climate crisis. For Jimmy Carter and the Democrats it had been political suicide to call a spade a spade. Now look at where we are. 42 years later, and it's almost too late. 


I am grateful for hope, and for responsibility. If we all think about what we do, and how we use energy and consume all resources we can make a difference. I understand that government action is necessary, but we as individuals have great power and can make a difference. Do not buy the line, which happens to benefit oil companies and other corporations, that we personally are helpless to avert this climate emergency. Imagine if everyone turned their cars off when they parked and did not leave them idling while they waited for someone to come out of a store or looked at their phones. The difference would be enormous. Imagine that those outdoor propane fueled heaters that you see on the patios of restaurants were banned. How many of those are going at any time? Burning fuel to heat the outdoors, what an absurd and offensive thing. Imagine not having to take a sweater with you to the grocery store and the movie theater in the summer because they have the thermostat set at 65 degrees. Learn to look around you and see waste, and feel entitled to talk with people about it, or make a change yourself. We are all in this together. Your actions and the actions of others impact not only your future, but the future of your children and grandchildren. Hope. Care. Be responsible.