Addressing Climate Change,
in the United States and Africa
I recently joined the social justice committee at my local Catholic church because they are committed to moving forward the Pope’s Encyclical on the care of the environment (Laudato Si’).
They invited me to join them in monthly meetings with the local Citizens’ Climate Lobby, which is working to get the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2019—H.R. 763—passed in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The carbon dividend approach was developed by a Republican, George Shultz, and both Republicans and Democrats are co-sponsoring the bill. (The majority of USers, including more than half of millennial Republicans, want Congress to take action on climate change.)
H.R. 763 would put a fee on fossil fuels that starts low and grows over time. The money collected would be allocated every month, in equal shares, to USers to spend as they see fit. It is projected to reduce emissions by at least forty percent within twelve years and create 2.1 million clean energy jobs. Both economists and scientists support it for its simplicity and effectiveness.
During the meeting, we got to role-play giving an “elevator speech” about [a brief, clear description of] H.R. 763. After a few people had shared their speeches, I suggested that we might try asking a question before we give the speeches to people, for example,
How are you feeling about climate change these days?
Have you heard about the carbon dividend idea?
People loved the idea of listening to people before launching into an elevator speech, and we practiced doing it in role-play pairs. Some commented on how important it was to use a caring tone of voice when communicating with others about H.R. 763.
It was then a great pleasure to all sit around a table and write letters to our U.S. senators and representatives using a form developed by the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. The letters will be hand delivered on June 11 at the tenth annual Citizens’ Climate International Conference.
Here are some other highlights from the meeting:
- The question in the opening circle was “Why are you the most amazing person in the Citizens’ Climate Lobby?” People laughed and shared interesting things about themselves.
- I met a local climate comedian.
- I attended the gathering with a friend from my Catholic church who is a climatologist from Burundi.
- The meeting was so well run, and I thanked the leader who I can’t imagine gets enough appreciation for her hard work.
I will be calling my members of Congress about H.R. 763 on June 5, Congressional Call-in Day. I will also write a letter about H.R. 763 to our local newspaper and volunteer at a Citizens’ Climate Lobby table at the monthly art walk downtown.
Who knew climate activism could be so much fun?
For more information on H.R. 763, you can go to <https://energyinnovationact.org/>.
Falmouth, Maine, USA
Dear Jan,
This information is so helpful. I wish to share my reactions to it.
Over time I have become more and more aware of climate change and the impact it has in Africa. We are beginning to feel it more and more. It is becoming a reality. During this year I plan to lead several workshops in my Region and have ensured that work on climate change is central in them.
Recently in Gulu, Uganda, we had two workshops—one for women and the other for teachers and leaders—that brought together people from South Sudan; Northern Uganda; and Kampala, Uganda. After an introduction about climate change in Africa, I asked them to think about plants, birds, insects, and animals they used to see when they were young. People described how there were many birds and how they named them, and how the birds used to sing in the morning and do not sing anymore. They said there were insects in the rivers and the gardens and that those insects are not there anymore, because the rivers are polluted and the gardens are highly chemicalised. They used to swim in rivers that are now dry. There were trees they no longer see. Some said they used to meet monkeys and baboons on their way to school. There were wild fruits and berries. Gazelles were everywhere.
Currently there is a lot of logging and charcoal burning. You have to go to the market to get fruits, and even there, many of them have vanished. The waters are all bottled up and resold to the people. It is hard to grow any crop because the climate has changed. There are all kinds of diseases that did not exist before. Children are malnourished.
We also had an opportunity to think through practical steps we can take to reclaim our identity in terms of our environment and natural surroundings.
In my own way, I become friendly to the environment by making my surroundings green. I have vegetables as my flowers. I do water harvesting in my home, so we have plenty of water, even when there is little rain. I also recycle plastic waste and papers and see that they do not find their way into the environment.
Nairobi, Kenya
Hi Wanjiku,
Your information is so helpful and moving. I cried as I read your post about all the losses of birds, insects, plants, animals, and clean water to drink and swim in, in your region of Africa. I also cried today as I listened to my friend Adolf from Burundi talk, with much sadness in his eyes, about a whole group of mountain people in Burundi who are disappearing because the mountains are now too warm to support their way of living.
Your leadership of your people and the practical steps you are taking to create green, beautiful, edible surroundings are inspiring.
I am pleased to be connecting with more people in the United States who are aware of the great harm our excessive consumption, particularly but not only of fossil fuels, is causing to the global South—Africa, in particular—and who are doing whatever they can to stop the madness.
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion
list for leaders of wide world change