IT'S EARTH DAY. WHAT NOW?

April 18, 2023

Here we are again. Earth Day. I read that the “theme” for Earth Day 2023 is “Invest in our Planet.”

I wrote a blog post about this in 2020, on the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. Since I’m a glutton for punishment, I’m going to write again.

Despite the many festivals and events you’ll hear about, and perhaps join, to celebrate Earth Day! (Or Earth Week! Or Earth Month!); the history of the event is in protest, not celebration. Yes, protest can be joyful. But protest is meant to express disapproval, objection, and/or refusal. It is meant to bring attention to deep wrongs and to stimulate change.

So, in honor of Earth Day, I’m going to protest (again) here.

We’re worse off than we were in 1970, the year of the first Earth Day protest.

In 1970 there was about 325 ppm of CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere (Source:https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/carbon-by-birth-year/)

Now the concentration of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere is close to 420 ppm. (No source needed. Sadly, you can find this information anywhere these days.)

We are a society in environmental and social crisis. Climate change is here and raging, an existential manifestation of capitalism, imperialism, colonization, racism. The effects are disproportionately impacting those who are poor, without power, and already vulnerable in many other ways due to the greed of those with wealth and power.

Those with wealth and power, those doing the most destruction, are also the most wanting to maintain the status quo. They are happy to participate in Earth Day events, sponsor such events, and donate millions to “sustainability.” As long as nothing really changes.

I feel like if we’re not fighting the status quo, we’re fueling it. If you want to take a closer look at some of the mechanisms fueling the status quo, and even laugh a little (remember, protest can be joyful), I invite you to take a look at Climate Town.

Then … DO SOMETHING.

But rather than pick up trash, or download a new app that helps you reduce your carbon footprint, see if you can find ways to push against the sources of the problem. Maybe close your bank account at Wells Fargo or JPMorgan Chase. (https://www.ran.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BOCC_2022_vSPREAD-1.pdf).

Or lobby your City and State legislators to get rid of natural gas in buildings. (https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/01/06/natural-gas-bans-are-new-front-in-effort-to-curb-emissions)

Or lobby for universal health care. A legislated living wage with mandatory annual cost of living adjustment. Rent control. Abolishing the electoral college.

Let’s invest in us.

Take Shelter

May 17, 2022

Shelter is a basic need. For most of us, adequate shelter in the form of a home is fundamental to overall health and well-being, and contributes enormously to our ability to meet our other basic needs and provide for ourselves and our families.

We – all of us – should be able to operate, maintain, and adapt our housing to remain safe, functional and beneficial, now and into the future, even in changing conditions. Unfortunately, in our community – in most every community actually – this isn’t the case. Not surprisingly, the disparities in vulnerability occur across racial, geographic and income-related lines.

Typically, the poorest people, and disproportionately people of color, live in the poorest housing, in the poorest neighborhoods, with the poorest infrastructure. Lower income residents’ housing burdens are often compounded by their surroundings, like streets in need of repair, inadequate green space, and persistent exposure to environmental dangers like lead and air pollution.

Poorer residents are less equipped to deal with high and volatile energy costs than wealthier residents are, but poorer residents more often live in homes with the highest energy costs because their houses are inefficient, dilapidated, or both. Similarly, residents with the least amount of disposable income can struggle to deal with escalating maintenance and repair costs, which (when unattended) further diminish the value of the house, and potentially escalate an unhealthy indoor environment. Shelter, in such instances, can become unsafe and unstable. In short, unsustainable.

Climate change only increases the importance of durable, affordable, and healthy housing – for everyone. More extreme weather underscores the need for robust, resilient housing and infrastructure. The urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions means we must rapidly transition to clean energy sources, for all of our energy consumption, including our homes.

The Power of Storytelling

June 02, 2021

I’ve been learning about the power of storytelling and narrative lately. Who tells the story, whose story is told, and which stories are told can shape both personal and collective paradigm. Amplifying the narratives of those whose stories are often overlooked or untold can help efforts toward equity and systemic change.

A recent Minnesota CERTs Seed Grant helped fund a special Outside the Box months-long project to tell stories about solar energy and environmental justice. I worked with other local creatives, youth at AICHO and energy and trades professionals in Duluth and the Twin Cities. "Solar Storytelling" is a series of three short videos (each under 4 minutes), highlighting people and professions related to renewable energy and environmental justice.

The three videos are the first of what we hope will be many stories told on the new Outside the Box YouTube channel.

Please watch them, share them, and use the links at the end of each video to learn more. At Outside the Box, we invite young people to tinker, to build, to create, and to imagine the possibilities for themselves and their world, outside the box.

CERTs staff recently interviewed me to share stories about the work I do through design, focusing in particular on my associations with Outside the Box and Green New Deal Housing. I’m grateful for the way the CERTs team presented these stories; I hope you’ll enjoy the read or the listen:

https://www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org/advancing-clean-energy-responsible-design