Climate change will spark next social revolution
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By JONATHAN ISHAM Jr. - Published: February 13, 2005
In the last few weeks, the world has been reminded yet again of the gravity of the climate crisis. The International Climate Change Task Force, co-chaired by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, recently declared that "climate change is a serious and growing threat, leaving no country, however wealthy, immune from the extreme weather events and rising sea levels that scientists predict will occur, unless action is taken."
And a new study published two weeks ago in Nature — documented at www.climateprediction.net — concludes that global warming could be even more extreme than previously thought.
Yet while politicians and scientists usher in such grim diagnoses, ordinary citizens are spreading hope about a clean-energy future. We witnessed this hope here at Middlebury College last month, as we hosted over 100 leaders of the new climate movement for a three-day conference: "What Works? New Strategies for a Melting Planet."
Who are the new climate activists? Well, they are not tree-huggers. Sure, a number of shaggy-haired young folks were among us last month: This is a college in Vermont, after all! But it's short-sighted – and politically unwise – to think that the thoughtful, engaged citizens who are building this new movement are just the usual environmentalist suspects. In fact, they are strikingly diverse. They are Republicans and Democrats. They are leaders in businesses and nonprofits, in churches and religious organizations and Native American tribes, and in colleges and universities. They are rural grandparents, urban parents and schoolchildren everywhere.
A sampling of the presentations from the conference illustrates this movement's diversity:
What unites these Americans? They understand the incontrovertible evidence on the climate crisis — a grave new form of injustice that cuts across current and future generations — and are committed to doing their part to stop it. For at some not unimaginable point within this century, we will have discarded the internal combustion engine and the coal-burning power plant. We will have created millions of new jobs in a globalized economy that is powered by renewable energy. This is a great vision indeed.
The big question is, when? Can we do this soon enough? Well, if "we, the people" care enough, appreciate the urgency enough, flex our civic muscle enough – remember Dr. King's bus boycotts? – the answer is, very soon.
Here in the United States, what we currently lack is political will, at least at the national level. But as is so often the case, this emerging social movement is being led not from Washington, but from the grassroots. At the same time, our conference portends a new kind of movement, tailored to the challenges and opportunities of this new century. Yes, climate activists will do their share of marching, boycotting and petition signing. But they are also embracing new tools and ideas.
For example, three Middlebury students, in collaboration with the citizen-based Green House Network (www.greenhousenet.org), recently announced The Flat Earth Award (www.flatearthaward.org), "a humorous effort to highlight the denial of global warming by prominent public figures." By holding to light the preposterous "climate-naysaying" of this year's nominees — including Michael Crichton and Rush Limbaugh — this online resource helps to spread the word: The climate crisis is real, and we have the clean-energy solutions to stop it.
A second, even more promising, example: A coalition of campus-based climate groups (www.energyaction.net) is now partnering with leading business consultants to launch a business-savvy, Internet-facilitated campaign that will pressure Detroit's automakers to build new fleets of climate-friendly cars. In the words of one economics major at the conference last week: "Our generation is about to buy millions of new cars. We plan to help Detroit figure out how to build the clean cars that we want to drive!" In March 2004, The Economist magazine asked: "Could the next grassroots revolution in America be over climate change?" Around the country, climate activists are declaring, with strength and with passion: "Yes!"
Jonathan Isham Jr. is a member of the Middlebury College Department of Economics and Program in Environmental Studies.
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