Dear Umbra,
Although I have always been one to conserve, recycle, etc., it is only in the last year that I have realized the extent of the catastrophe coming upon us in terms of climate change. I am 40-something, live in a city, own an older home with a sizeable mortgage that requires my husband and me to work, two kids, two cars, etc. I've done all the usual stuff: changed the light bulbs, we've each started biking to work when we don't have to pick up our kids, and I've gotten politically active, writing emails and organizing my first event for the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Part of me feels such panic, though, and thinks we should sell the house before it becomes unlivable due to power and water shortages and economic meltdown, and join a sustainable community off the grid with water catchment, etc., and devote myself to environmental activism. But I like my job, my friends, my neighborhood and don't really feel like starting over and am not sure I've got what it takes to live self-sufficiently. So does it make more sense to stay here and try to change things from within, even while living more wastefully, or should we get out while we still can?
Laura Brown
Oakland, Calif.
Dearest Laura,
Just about every progressive person grapples with some version of this question at one point or another. Shall I take part in this pitiful, wasteful culture while doing my best to change myself and others around me, or should I move beyond this culture into something better and more sustainable?
Don't give up the fight.
Photo: iStockphoto
Good question.
Ultimately, it's something you (and your family) are going to have to work out on your own. But since you asked, I am happy to offer some tidbits of advice.
First, let me say there's room on the environmental spectrum for us all, and an infinite number of ways to contribute -- whether you're making sure you and your friends are taking the most effective personal eco-actions, or supporting the efforts of green groups that sue polluters, or engaging in carefully considered eco-vandalism, or running a giganto corporation, or living on a commune off the grid.
One observation I can offer is this: it sounds like you think you can only truly devote yourself to activism while living in some sort of eco-topia. But be assured that this is the easiest kind of activism -- the converting-the-already-converted kind -- and also the least useful. The more difficult, and more useful, kind is working to alter the attitudes and lives of the as-yet un-green, very few of whom you'll encounter in your eco-haven.
It also sounds like self-sufficient farm or commune living might not be your thing. Remember: you don't need to suffer to be green. If where you are is where you're inclined to stay, I say stay. There are plenty of ways to contribute there. You are already working with my beloved UCS, and other opportunities abound. Try getting rid of one (or both) of your cars, or lobbying for clean-energy projects in your area. Go to a baseball game, and tell the Oakland A's you love their smart composting program. Do whatever you can to help make others aware of the changes that are coming, and how they can help. Take a deep breath. There's still time.
If the gloomy forecasts still make you panic, there are things you can do to prepare for the worst: You should be buying local -- it's good to support farmers and the local economy now, and if our oily economy does go down the drain, then it might be your only food source. Since you live on the coast, you might want to think about other areas of the country where you could imagine living. I suppose you could brush up on your survival skills. Be sure to teach your children well. And think about befriending some off-the-gridders who might let you join their community when or if industrial society collapses. If it doesn't collapse, then you get a bonus: friends are still friends, after all. No matter how they use their power.
Doggedly,
Umbra
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Comments
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gogogreenguy Posted 5:47 am
16 Aug 2006
http://www.energybulletin.net/3757.html
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caniscandida Posted 6:49 am
16 Aug 2006
And thanks, Umbra, for a typically humane response.
On city-living: Yes, it is true that generally, the eco-footprint is modest and limited. But there are different urban lifestyles, are there not. And some are unfortunately quite suburbanoid.
On buying local: Yes, that is a seriously important ideal, which we do our best to rise toward. But in regions with severe seasonality, it is not always that easy. As my Californian husband says, for people in the Bay area to preach that everybody across the land should always "buy local" is rather like New Yorkers insisting that everybody across the land should get out and hear live opera.
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sunflower Posted 7:30 am
16 Aug 2006
There is no safe harbor on Earth. We are all at extreme risk from global warming on the cusp of peak cheap oil.
We (Grist) need to find answers to the questions of the young and the poor. Civilization is most important to them.
Diverting the military budget for transforming civilization into a sustainable one is doable. The military seems incapable of winning wars for oil so why continue to pour our future into that stupid immoral rat hole. Even Bush seems unable to destroy civilization so that is not an (Derrick Jensen) option. Alternatives to carbon-based energy would be lower risk and far more cost effective (William McDonough) option.
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amazingdrx Posted 10:41 am
16 Aug 2006
Then install all the water and energy saving technology you can with the rent you get. That will let you pay it off sooner too, in case you need to flee.
Then get a place outside the city where you can escape to if necessary. Either joining a sustainable community or your own place. You can even garden in that other location.
It's the small business way to do it. Another less capitalist way would be to make an arangment with people in a rural sustainable commune to share city/country space. Fill the apartments with your exurban friends when they need to live or work in the city.
Then they reciprocate with garden space and living space for you to live in the country at times. Grow local food yourselves!
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aloneindc Posted 9:30 pm
16 Aug 2006
Anyway, I too thought about leaving but not only do I need nature to nuture me, I need friends.
Karen
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caniscandida Posted 11:46 pm
16 Aug 2006
Tim Flannery's "The Weather Makers" is up there with Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" and Elizabeth Kolbert's "Field Notes from a Catastrophe" as a good source on global warming. Not only is he an excellent writer; he is also a real scientist. So it is troubling that, as you have found, there should be so little interest in the subject in DC.
Inasmuch as the subject is political, and the government is in the hands of the deniers' friends, perhaps silence on global warming in DC should come as no surprise. After all, in early 2004, the exhibition of Subhankar Banerjee's gorgeous photographs of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, at the Smithsonian, was more or less suppressed, once Barbara Boxer referred to them on the floor of the Senate in the course of an anti-Cheney speech.
If you have the time, maybe you should follow Maywa Montenegro's suggestion, and apply for the course on presenting Al Gore's slide show. Chances are, you will meet some interesting, like-minded people that way.
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karenc Posted 3:29 am
17 Aug 2006
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bookerly Posted 6:32 am
17 Aug 2006
Karen,
Congrats on your journey of discovery, I hope you will share what you learn with the rest of us! It is always helpful to hear what people experience when they try to go out of "small communities" like this one and talk to others. I know it is tough to do, and appreciate your efforts!
Try to find an organization you can relate to, a local environmental justice group might be good. I am not familiar with DC, but am sure there are some.
Then you can have a community to sustain you as you continue to outreach to folks around you.
As you try to talk to people, remember that you were once like them (or maybe not), and try to understand why they don't share your concerns and knowledge. Understand that the vast majority of the information people receive in American society is designed to make them feel good and fit in. It is not designed to make them aware of societal and environmental problems.
So it is unlikely you by yourself can counter all of the disinformation around you. Which doesn't mean you shouldn't try. At some point, someone will change, and they will remember your efforts with gratitude!
Hang in there. La Lutta Continua (the struggle continues).
patrick
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gogogreenguy Posted 2:04 pm
01 Sep 2006
http://www.patternliteracy.com/urban2.html
I think it is interesting the number of comments that this "Ask Umbra" column has generated - much more than many others. It seems lots of people have this on the brain.
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