We Are the Ones Who Have to Make Things Happen
Diane Shisk, Acting International Commonality Reference Person for the Care of the Environment (Focusing on the Climate Emergency)
My job is to think about climate change, now called “the climate emergency.”
Two climate scientists are up in the Arctic studying Arctic conditions and polar bears. They spot some polar bears in the distance. They are so excited. They go toward them—taking notes, discussing their condition. They get closer and closer. They notice it’s two polar bears! The momma bear smells them, turns toward them, taps her little cub, and says, “Look dear, an endangered species!”
It’s hard to find a good joke about the climate emergency. I think we all know that we are in deep doo-doo [serious trouble]. The oppressive societies that have brought us racism, classism, genocide, slavery, sexism have a new feature: it’s called Global Warming, the Climate Emergency. We’re all scared about it.
But we do know what to do about it. There’s a huge amount of intelligent thinking about how to solve it if we do it soon. But the system that has brought us climate change is still profiting from it, and the individuals who are profiting don’t want us to make the changes in society that need to be made. The distresses that have driven them to make profits don’t let them think about the danger they are causing. They actually can’t think and can’t change. This means that we are the ones who have to think, have to change, have to stand up and make things happen.
Seattle, Washington, USA