GT 5.22 (Hope... What Next?). McK thru Ellen Meloy
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Final report presentation: Alex Wiseman
GT
- Greta says hope is what? And what's its greatest source?421
- It'll never be too late to what? Why won't she conclude with "inspirational words"? 422 What does she assume about her readers? 424
- How much "recycled" plastic actually gets recycled (in Sweden, and presumably elsewhere)? 425
- The world won't end if we exceed 1.5 degrees C global average temperature rise, but what probably will? 426 What will still be here if we do change to a sustainable way of life? 427
- COMMENT?: What we can do together 430-32... What you can do individually 433-4... What some can do more 435-6.
McK
- What most defines wolves? 763 What are the respective agendas of those who are for and against them? 761
- What did Rick Durning document in How Much is Enough? 770 What are the main determinants of happiness? 774-5
- Whence arises loyalty to place, according to Scott Russell Sanders? What are the roots of nostalgia? 788-9
- What did George Schaller learn from studying gorillas? 790
- What's the Las Vegas survival strategy, according to Ellen Meloy? 797
The FDR era comes to an end
And so we will need to build the next new thing under the sun
Bill McKibben:
I am, of course, sad.
I had hoped, almost more than I let myself really feel, that American was about to elect a smart black woman president of the United States, moving us further down the path that we have haltingly followed throughout my life. Instead, quite knowingly, we elected someone who stood for the worst impulses in our history. I think the next four years—and perhaps longer—will be very hard on many fronts. One is the concern of this newsletter, climate and energy, where we can expect the oil industry to have carte blanche.
But I actually think the message and the moment is much deeper than that. What happened last night was that the cord that stretched back to FDR snapped. It had been badly frayed, especially in the Reagan years, but the Depression and World War II had been such deep and defining events that the formula that got us through them—a kind of solidarity at home and abroad—more or less held. No more.
Everything is up for grabs now, including the basic entitlement programs that defined the New Deal. (If you haven’t read Project 2025 this would be a good day to start). In foreign policy terms it’s all far more complicated, and has been from Vietnam through Gaza—but today is a bad day to be Ukrainian, Taiwanese, or a Palestinian on the West Bank. Can things get worse? I think they can, and I think we will find out, here and around the world. But I don’t think it will last either, because the promises on which this new MAGA order are built are mostly nonsense.
And I also think the sun rose this morning—there was a leaden sky in the Green Mountains of Vermont when I went out to walk the dog, but I could sense the sun behind it.
And in that sunrise there is for me the hint of where that next huge realigning New Deal-sized thing will come from. The reshaping of our energy system—to cope with climate change, and to reflect the rock-solid fact that we live on an earth where the cheapest way to make power is to point a sheet of glass at the sun—may offer, if we are clever and good-hearted, a new basis on which to remake the world.
More local, more peaceful, less controllable by oligarchs and plutocrats. I don’t know if we can make it—the headwinds are stronger than they were yesterday—but I know we can try. And I know that only this project is big enough in scale to give us a real chance at a fresh start.
That’s what this community will continue to focus on, and I’m glad you’re a part of it.. (continues)
After the election results, my heart hurt. Not only will our country suffer at the hands of an unethical zealot, but also the entire world. The Gaia paradigm says it best as we are all interconnected and our beautiful home is now in the hands of a madman. Greta has been angry and I can only hope more people like her make some noise.
ReplyDeleteCOMMENT?: What we can do together 430-32... What you can do individually 433-4... What some can do more 435-6.
ReplyDeleteBefore I provide my own answer to these questions I want to point out how much I appreciate these questions. I think often times discussions about being more sustainable only call on individuals to take on solutions but, this is so much bigger than individual effort. It is a problem that can only be solved by massive collective action. Yes, the individuals should reduce single use plastics, find fossil fuel alternatives, and volunteer but it only does so much. Collative power is so much stronger and effective. As a collective we can boycott, protest, research and develop cleaner alternatives, and so much more. This is so important and can do so much good but large change won't come without stronger government regulations, large refocusing by the energy and agriculture industries, and large scale investment in research and development.
Greta says hope is what? And what's its greatest source?421
ReplyDeleteGreta says that hope is active and not passive. She claims that hope is something that arises from action as well as participation. Greta states that collective action is the greatest source of hope. I agree that hope is not something one can passively wait to appear. Action and participation create hope because there is a sense of unity and change.
The world won't end if we exceed 1.5 degrees C global average temperature rise, but what probably will? 426 What will still be here if we do change to a sustainable way of life? 427
While exceeding the 1.5-degree Celsius rise is unlikely to end the world, Greta Thunberg cautions that it might have disastrous, irreversible repercussions that disproportionately harm vulnerable populations through extreme weather, rising sea levels, extinction of species, and threats to the security of food and water.
Thunberg highlights that if we adopt a sustainable lifestyle, the resilience of our natural environment and many of its species, a habitable climate for coming generations, and the potential for healthy, sustainable communities will all still exist.
Greta says hope is what? And what's its greatest source?421
ReplyDeleteShe states that hope is active. Its greatest source comes from people and their participation. When people come together with hope, change can happen.
Greta says that hope is what helps us strive for a better future, that change is always possible. only about 9% of plastic is actually recycled. together we can persuade and use our voices and bodies to commit time and effort to assisting the earth. Others can put money forth to develop alternate eco friendly capabilities in the fields that emit a lot of greenhouse gasses.
ReplyDelete