There is a bit of a debate among those of us who write about climate change. Some argue that our key responsibility is to keep people hopeful, because if people despair deeply about the climate crisis, they will be too discouraged to take any meaningful action.
Others argue that because people are not taking the climate emergency seriously enough to change their behavior, the primary responsibility of writers on the topic is to reveal how dire the situation is, how much death and suffering there is already, and how much worse we can expect it to get. In other words, to wake people up and scare them into action.
I’m usually suspicious when people insist on “either-or” thinking. I often find that a “both-and” approach gets us closer to the truth. I think that’s true here. If we adhere exclusively to a hopeful view about the climate situation, and exclude from our attention any climate news that might make us fearful or anxious, we will not be in touch with the actual reality of what is happening in the world.
On the other hand, if we decide that it is too late, that doom is inevitable and the situation with the climate is hopeless, then we will similarly not be in touch with reality. Reality includes millions of people in every corner of the globe acting to slow global warming with tremendous dedication, inventiveness, and collaboration. No matter how bad the climate situation is, there will always be lives to be saved and suffering to be alleviated by helping to slow the rate of global warming. Each of us can participate in that in some way.
I think what our situation requires of us is something that is quite challenging. I think that in order to be in touch with reality and in order to be ready to play our role as responsible citizens, we need to choose to stay hopeful, while also facing that humanity is threatened by an existential challenge — the climate crisis. This will not be easy. But it is possible. Not only is it possible, I think our lives will be better — happier and more connected — with this approach than with hiding our heads in the sand or pretending that everything is fine.
In recent grim news, the Trump administration, which has already eliminated incentives for solar energy and heat pumps, announced that it will pay $2 billion dollars of taxpayer money to off-shore wind developers to cancel planned projects that would have provided electricity for U.S. homes and businesses. The Pentagon is also slowing or preventing the development of some 165 land-based wind power projects. Scientists have also recently announced that the 11 hottest years on record have all occurred in 2015 – 2025, causing death, crop failures, fires, and dislocation in many parts of the world. And the permafrost is melting and releasing climate-destabilizing methane that has been stored for centuries.
How does one stay hopeful in the face of news like this? What is hope? Hope is not a conviction or prediction that things will turn out well. It is possible to be hopeful even when the odds are not in your favor. Hope is a decision.
Hope is a decision to hold open the possibility of success regardless of the odds. Hope is a choice. Hope is deciding that you would rather join with others and go for what you want, than give up and resign yourself to failure or inevitable doom. When it comes to tackling climate change, hope is a decision that you will have a better life and experience greater integrity and sense of purpose if you work together with others to try to solve the crisis than if you turn away from the issue or declare the battle lost.
My favorite quotes about hope come from Vaclav Havel, first president of the Czech Republic, who was earlier a dissident and a playwright. He wrote, “Hope… is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart.” “Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.”
I’ve also found that it is tremendously helpful to make a habit of finding, remembering, and sharing bits of good news about the climate. Here are a few that have been helpful to me recently. The cost of batteries for utility-system storage and vehicles has fallen 99% in the last three decades. India, the most populous country in the world, just became the world’s third largest (after China and the U.S.) installer of solar power. Across 23 countries including the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, China, India, and Japan, three in four people agree with one simple statement: “It’s essential our government does whatever it takes to limit the effects of climate change.”
Russ Vernon-Jones of Amherst is a member of the Steering Committee of Climate Action Now-Western Mass (CAN). The views expressed here are his own. He blogs regularly on climate justice at http://www.russvernonjones.org and can be reached there.