Committed as I am to using this platform to lift up good work and share information and inspiration, this week’s post is a re-post from an organization I greatly admire — the IBU Movement.
As the world grapples with the climate crisis, the knowledge and sustainable practices that Indigenous communities possess are crucial for protecting biodiversity and the fragile ecosystems necessary for sustaining life on earth.
As Americans try to prepare for what’s ahead with the re-election of Donald Trump, I am sharing some facts this week on one of the many areas of concern for pushback — the nature and climate crisis.
The time for mourning and heartfelt disappointment is ending and the time for organizing and activating in response to the potential dangers of a Trump presidency (again) is now. As the great civil rights leader, Coretta Scott King observed, “Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.”
Along with Project Dandelion Executive Director Ronda Carnegie, I attended what is known as the BioCOP, and wanted to share, in brief, what I would describe generally as a learning journey that gave both of us a clearer understanding of the fact that there can be no solution to the climate crisis without solutions to the nature crisis.
I am thinking a lot about leadership as faithful readers know, and assuming you are, too, given that we, as citizens of a democracy, are electing our most important leaders, nationally and in states and communities. I’ve written a lot already in this weekly post about the historic nature of this US election, and I felt that profoundly this week when I voted with my 18-year-old granddaughters who are first-time voters.
In this post-truth world, there are just too many lies leading to too many conspiracy theories to keep up with rebuttals based on facts… and apparently, the facts have become much less popular than the lies that travel much faster online.
I do…and that was some decades ago! The memory of standing in line in my small hometown in Georgia — a much shorter line than the ones I stand in today in Atlanta — and being handed a paper ballot with boxes next to a long list of names is one that I will never forget.
We have the solutions. What is needed is public pressure to get the solutions implemented at scale. We can halt the progression of climate change and reverse some of the damage by accelerating the phase down and eventual phase out of fossil fuels, by investing in and adapting to renewable energy sources, and by turning away from the extractive policies and mindset that have depleted our natural resources. We must begin thinking, living, and working regeneratively.
A self evident truth, right? And yet, only 11% of the stories in US history textbooks are about women and less than 10% of public monuments across the US are of women — a statistic which includes mermaids! But finally, after decades of advocacy from women leaders, there will be such a museum in the Nation’s Capital… hopefully, in my lifetime!