I want to see a show of hands, would you rather start your diet today or next week?
That is the question Katherine Milkman, a behavioral economist, asked the audience attending an event at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership entitled, Critical Conversations, Responses to Change. Not surprisingly, a vast majority raised their hands for the latter. Why do today, what we can put off until tomorrow?
Why, because if we don’t act now tomorrow will look vastly different than today. Not only will temperatures and sea levels continue to rise, destroying cities, communities and economies, the wave of “climate change” refugees who are forced to leave their homes due to civil and social wars pushed to the tipping point by drought and floods and limited food and water, will further exasperate the nationalism currently infecting the globe.
Full disclosure, I am not an expert on climate change. But I am a believer and that’s as good a place as any to start. The panel at this climate change symposium was not made up of climate scientists. The five experts sitting on the stage last night were authorities on human behavior and the human spirit. They highlighted the idea that this challenge must be attacked not only by scientists but by communities.
One of the panelist, Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org, has been trying to educate the world on climate change for over 30 years. He opened by saying his favorite passage in the bible was the Book of Job. I guess if you’re addressing a crowd of jewish activists, the old testament is a good place to start.
Scientist believe that many species are being driven to extinction due to the effects of climate change. Take the recent catastrophic fires in Australia, caused by severe drought. It is estimated that over 1.25 billion animals were directly or indirectly killed by the historic fire. Many of the animals were already teetering on the brink and this one epic disaster may tip the scales in favor of their extinction. Although I’m not Jewish and I’ve recently left my christian faith, I loved McKibben’s simple and startling statement. If Genesis is the creation story, then we are currently writing the de-creation story.
So what can we do? That was the common question of the evening’s program. As Mirele B. Goldsmith, an environmental psychologist and activist on the panel explained, communities must act for the common good. Her congregation in the D.C area encouraged their community to make the switch to renewable energy and gave them concrete actions to reach that goal. Other panelist mentioned the simple act of getting more protein in our diet from vegetables instead of meat. So consider starting “meatless Mondays”. Some of the actions don’t require you to change your behavior, just make responsible choices. Americans buy a new car approximately every six years, so choose an electric or hybrid car. Small changes do make a difference. But as usual it’s the money holders that hold the key to turning the tide.
One panelist mentioned that many of the large banks financially support investment in the fossil fuel industry. According the the EPA, 65% of the greenhouse gases released into the environment are attributed to fossil fuels. Here is a scary fact, large investment banks have given $700 billion of financing to fossil fuel companies SINCE the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement.
They’re big, we’re small, how can we impact this trend? Here’s a perfect example. JP Morgan Chase is leading the way in investments in fossil fuels. Chase has invested $75 billion in fracking, Arctic oil and gas exploration. I’m willing to bet you have a credit card backed by Chase Bank. Go ahead, pull out your wallet, take out all of your credit cards, turn them over and look at the back, 16% of all credit cards are backed by Chase. Consider cancelling all credit cards with the Chase logo and let the provider know why you are closing your account. This trend is starting to make an impact, recently many of the large investment banks are making headlines by stating that they are going to invest responsibly. I say, the proof is in the pudding.
Mirele made it a point to introduce her self to people at the reception after the event. She recently moved to the D.C area and proudly informed us that she was arrested with Jane Fonda at the “Fire Drill Friday” climate rally on the Capital steps in D.C. When I mentioned that I have family in D.C. and I visit often, she gave me her card and said to keep in touch, maybe we can get arrested together. I will add her to my “hero” list.
Devastation from the Australian wild Fire. A chapter in the de-creation story.
Check out the panelist.
