So Wayne and I drove way beyond our usual to Chico because we couldn’t miss the Sunrise Tour – as they say it “8 Massive Tour Stops and 100+ Town Halls” across the county to save the planet from injustice and global warming. You gotta do both or suffer terrific heart pain when millions of people and species die! 723 people had RSVP’d to this El Rey Theater in Chico event, so were grateful to find seats for us and Dennis, once husband radical grad student at Berkeley, now moving to Chico, “A drinking town with a college problem,” he said. I found the town VERY friendly and people happy and sweet all through. Many seemed to have imbibed; no one we saw worse for wear! Great college town now full of people who want to save the planet – with kindness!
In Chico, we heard Sunrise Executive Director and huge energy human, Varshini Prakash, along with Audrey Denney, running for Congress in District 1, who signed the Green New Deal pledge in front of us to a standing ovation, and a wonderful bunch of presenters…won’t try and tell about each; each was deeply moving. The couple who lost their home to the Camp fire; the Native American teacher who called out we’re on occupied territory (once home to her tribe) seeking climate action routed in racial and economic justice. Tall order we need to obey!
We were joyfully inspired! I now have a GREEN NEW DEAL TSHIRT and am signing up to get texts on my phone as Sunrise holds Presidential candidates’ feet to the fire before us – to get the story straight and take necessary actions: in 10 years if we haven’t moved the needle way back toward normal, climate crisis will be impossible to stop according to a very long list of smart people globally!
Truly terrifying and millions if not billions of of humans will die along with countless species of animals and plants. Tragic, heart breaking and never ending! Surely we can do better. Let us count the ways: In Paul Hawken’s DRAWDOWN (book and movement with 200 researchers) that process is taking place now through 80 projects with 20 more “coming attractions”. Surely, we can boost those and come up with more!
Greatest challenge in history? You bet your life (and mine and our kids and grandkids and even giraffes!) Seriously, we need balance to get back to health; the planet is not only on fire it has a people cancer we need to radiate (bad analogy?) Reversing global warming isn’t for cissies, but I hear aging isn’t, either, and we all have to do that! So I say, to save your soul, we all have to dig in and support at LEAST the Green New Deal and its stalwart young people. Go to their site, and join in. You’ll be glad you did.
I see something more: watching Noam Chomsky on Democracy Now! on YouTube, he says nuclear holocaust has never been so close – so – in response, I’m gonna say WORK WITH CHINA AND RUSSIA TO OVERCOME GLOBAL WARMING, BE CLOSER ALLIES IN THIS AND AVOID MELTDOWN. both kinds.
According to a book we studied with others, Climate A New Story, Chas. Eisenstein says we’ve already killed of 80% of our insects, leaving countless crops without pollinators. Just that fact alone means you don’t get the food you want! Just whatever survives the massive onslaught to our way of life.
Other media are catching up: massive story in Sun. Chron. – horrors gone through as a couple lost both their children to fire. And bigger worse fires will come if we don’t reverse course. That would mean: stop the whole idea of GROWTH/consumerism/capitalism as a way of life. Our energies MUST be directed in ways that support a kind, healthy world. It’s that or Mad Max for a great many. You, personally, may escape much of the trouble, but can you really live with yourself if you don’t act now?
The darkness must always be accounted for – and surpassed. These Sunrise young folk are on it! We Are The Leaders Now – so we can follow their HUGE energy, great intelligence, organized, like eco-evangilists, they got us to sing together, pledge to reach out to our contacts and get them to sign on the Green New Deal pledge.
So, as Sonoma County Pachamama Alliance, we’re presenting DRAWDOWN solutions in Santa Rosa at Arlene Frances Center THurs. May 9, 6p – and we’ll include links to Sunrise Movement and hope to get oodles of copies of the current IN THESE TIMES magazine devoted to Sunrise and Getting to Zero (emissions that is). And check out the wonderful Pachamama Alliance work to save the rainforests – and move toward a more humane world.
You got something better to do? Hope you will be part of the solution(s). Thanks for reading!