Message From The Future III—Final Blog

The 2020s were not easy. This decade brought us challenges, but also change. It was in these challenging moments where we found our strengths, and through change, a chance to save our planet. How did we get here? 

In 2020, COVID-19 hit. The world lost millions of lives throughout the pandemic. The loss of lives paired with the economic hardship caused by the pandemic was heartbreaking everywhere. In just a blink of an eye, life as we knew it changed. We had to adjust to the “new normal.” However, many of us thought this new normal would only be temporary. This assumption was somewhat correct. Eventually, people did stop wearing masks and measuring their distance between one another. But other aspects of the new normal stuck around long after the pandemic was over. Some of it was not good. Those grieving their loved ones had to adjust to life without them. Many of those who got severely sick, and survived, continued suffering from chronic conditions caused by the disease. Many of those who lost their jobs found themselves in immense debt that would take them years to pay off.  

But, as life teaches us over and over again, even good can come from the bad. In the USA, the new normal challenged our work-obsessed lifestyles. With so many professions and schools switching to Zoom, Americans started spending more time at home, with family, and often with more time on their hands. When we began recovering from the pandemic, many companies and individuals didn’t want to let go of their new, slower-paced lifestyles. It turns out that most people preferred to spend more time in the very homes they worked so hard to pay for or with the family they worked so hard to support. 

The new normal also brought more Americans outside. When COVID-19 hit, businesses closed down en masse, and Americans had to stay away from big crowds. When this happened, Americans visited their local parks in record numbers, discovering a love for hiking, running, or enjoying the natural beauty around them. 

Although it wasn’t clear at first, these changes in lifestyle and attitude played an essential role in our fight to save the planet. The reason for this is because we became less focused on monetary gain and more focused on meaningful connections. We slowed down enough to notice how fast we were moving before—in the wrong direction. 

These changes didn’t come without backlash. Oh no, there was plenty of that. When Joe Biden won the presidential election in 2020, he inherited a deeply divided country. Even worse, Former President Trump’s anti-science rhetoric continued on his Twitter for the entirety of Biden’s presidency, fueling the flames of conspiracy theories claiming that climate change wasn’t real. Although these conspiracies often made it difficult, President Biden managed to get the conversation going again, which was a start. Climate change became our number one priority, so we talked about climate change everywhere, in schools, in the media, in political debates, etc. 

Over time, most Americans became proud to voice their concerns for the planet. We were finally becoming a country that placed value on science, technological advancement, and altruism. The drastic changes we needed to make to our lives to save the planet didn’t scare most Americans anymore. After all, if the pandemic taught us anything, it was that we have to be willing to adapt if we are to survive a crisis. 

And adapt we did. Soon after President Biden’s first term, the USA joined the Paris Climate Agreement again. We were once again standing with our allies to address the crisis all of us created. President Biden’s Clean Energy Revolution plan further ensured that we do our part to heal our planet. This plan made it possible for us to cut back significantly on nonrenewable resources, choosing to invest in a clean energy economy instead. We aren’t 100% there yet, but we are, for once, surpassing our goals. How did we do it? Well, first, we set goals! Some of these included investing in climate research and incentivizing communities and businesses to make the switch to clean energy. Again, there was a backlash. But as we continued to progress, it became clear that nonrenewable energy was a thing of the past, and frankly, a bad investment, whether you prioritized the economy or the environment. 

Although we are finally surpassing our goals, we are still suffering the consequences of our past. We waited far too long to act. Fortunately, we now have a shot at saving our planet. But, every year throughout the 2020s, the hurricanes continued to get worse, the fires on the west coast were ever more ravaging, and the sea levels continued to rise, threatening cities on the coastlines. These horrors don’t go away overnight. It has taken a whole decade to see any significant evidence of our efforts. Now, I can confidently say that there is hope. But for a while, I wondered if it was already too late. If we had waited until now to get started, I fear it really would have been too late. 

That is my message to those of you in 2020, soon approaching 2021. Change is coming. There will be many more “new normals” ahead of you. Embrace them. 

To future generations—I am sorry for our transgressions. I hope that once the climate levels out and the earth begins to heal, you will remember how we got here to avoid repeating history. When you look back on us, you will see ancestors who did both good and bad. We abused our planet, the only one we call home, until the very last minute. But at the end of the day, we had a choice between taking action and ignoring the problem. We chose to take action, albeit late. Let us all remember how connected we are, in the past, present, and future, and then behave accordingly.