I woke up one morning and thought: What if I woke up one morning knowing we only had twelve years to save the planet? What would I do differently?
If you’ve been following my work for any length of time you know I’ve been an evangelist for solar panels, compost and electric cars and not idling. I’ve started writers groups and student clubs and done projections and lectures. I have always done as much as I possibly can, sometimes driving myself and everyone around me completely insane. It’s never enough. Me and all the other libtards can’t do it alone. Do you know the theory of the hundredth monkey? Yeah, it’s time for all the apes to get it.
So I’m the president of the local branch of the California Writers Club. At our board meeting this month, there were five talented writers sitting around the table going through the pedestrian business of keeping our club going. As I struggled to get to the end of the agenda before we all had to rush off, this agitated inner voice said, “If we only have twelve years to keep global warming below 1.5°c, why am I bothering with this? Is this the best use of my energy?” Everyone stared at me. I guess I had said it out loud.
Then someone else said, “I was just thinking the same thing.”
There was a rush of emotion in the room, and for a minute we all considered putting a “closed until the world is saved” sign on the CWC website, so we could turn our full attention to climate activism. But then someone mentioned Thomas Paine, and someone else mentioned the Prague Uprising, and before we knew it we were having another meeting again to discuss the role our local and statewide club might play in changing this dangerous course of history.
Sometimes as writers we do our best work with a deadline. The “Wolf Pack” writers action group, inspired by our founder Jack London’s love of nature and activist writings, will be seeking ways to encourage our members to work individually and together on creating optimism, understanding, and action around climate catastrophe. During WW2, all Americans recycled, rationed, and planted Victory gardens. We are in a time of war, and also a time of healing. Billions of past decisions created this crisis. The writers in our club can help all of our readers focus on the billions of decisions we must make now. I spoke once of the “Seven C’s of the CWC” and here are seven more: through conservation, connection, and community, we can fight the problems created by consumerism, convenience, consumption and conveyance. We also must valiantly fight the trolls. In the next twelve years, every planetary traveler will need the encouragement of our club’s motto, “Sail On,” in some form or another, to get through desperate times towards a transformed society and a stabilized world.
As for me, in January I posted about how we need to turn off our engines and stop going nowhere. I will dedicate one blog post per month to Climate Calming. Because we really need to Unfuck the World!
