Why I Don't Talk About Climate Change Anymore

If you asked me two years ago what issue should be at the forefront of our discussions and politics, I would have said climate change. An issue that is mind-bending in its vagueness, and so easy to put off as a future problem. An issue that some are screaming is an imminent threat, while others continue to deny its existence. It's still a topic I'm very much interested in, and I land a little lower than an alarmist on the spectrum of concern. I still believe it will have catastrophic consequences for our planet and our people. So why did I drop climate change as my topic of choice? I realized I had been blind to a very important part of the conversation.

I'm embarrassed to admit that until college, I was only vaguely aware of poverty in America. Yes, I knew there were poor people, but I didn't understand how our social, economic, and political systems contributed to it until I was introduced to the idea and then became insatiable in my search for more knowledge. I was raised in an environment (as I'm sure many of you also were) that told me people fall into poverty because of personal choices and that living in America allows them to solve their problems through personal choices as well. I was never taught about the racism, sexism, and classism that contribute to poverty, let alone how they combine with our economic policies/political ideologies to create a toxic system that is nearly impossible to remove oneself from.

On top of all that, I was naive enough to believe that while racism still existed in extreme forms in America (think KKK and Neo-Nazis), most white individuals had overcome their racist beliefs. I was obviously very WRONG about that. As it did for many others, the unrest caused by the shootings of Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and more over the past few years opened my eyes to what a problem it continues to be. Seeing the murders happen in the first place, followed by people I know trying to find ways to justify their deaths allowed me to start feeling the rage that BIPOC have been experiencing for centuries. Add a flame-fanning, deeply dishonest President to the mix (whom overwhelmingly white voters helped elect), and it was enough for me to change my entire perspective.

This is not the post where I try to convince you that racism in America still exists. If you need to start the conversation there, please email me for a list of book recommendations. The rest of this discussion will be from the perspective that there are American policies still in place that harm BIPOC citizens and lingering effects from our country's dark history that still hurt them as well. For our purposes, we're going to look specifically at three barriers: housing, food, and these lingering policy effects, and how they play an important role in climate justice.

An eerie orange sky over the town of Dayton, Oregon, during the devastating fires of 2020.

America is facing a worsening housing crisis as wages stagnate, house prices rise, and more available land/properties are eaten up by private or commercial interests. One anticipated consequence of climate change is that wealthy people and organizations will continue to move themselves to the most hospitable environments as conditions change, leaving those with less capital to disproportionately suffer the effects. This may just sound like how capitalism in America works: those who make more money in our system get to buy houses wherever they want; that's one of the biggest perks! I get that. However, the effects of climate change will eventually be an unprecedented crisis. More people will lose their homes as natural disasters wipe them out or rising temperatures make regions uninhabitable. Economic distress will continue making it harder to the average citizen to buy a home. We could face shortages of building supplies if logging forests burn or if rising sea levels invade our coasts and cover sand used to make concrete (these are extreme examples, but we can't even imagine yet what the future holds!). As more land and lives become affected, I expect the already huge gap in wealth in our society to grow. And since owning a home is one of the most effective ways to build wealth, the problem will only compound itself if we don't do something about the housing crisis we're facing. I think it's safe to say our capitalist system is already not working for a huge number of people, so finding a solution is going to require thinking creatively outside of the capitalist box.

While America produces + imports more than enough food to feed everyone here, unequal distribution, questionable subsidies, and waste lead to food insecurity for many families across the nation. The USDA Economic Research Service estimates that 10.5% of American households struggle to get enough to eat, and that more than 5 million children are affected by hunger. This happens while we waste an estimated 30-40% of our food as a country every year! That's 133 billion pounds of food that could have fed hungry families. As the climate continues to warm up, we may actually increase food production for a while as northern states become more arable and crops soak up the longer warm months. I think this is a great opportunity to re-examine our systems of food production/distribution so that more of our population has access to affordable, healthy food, and less of it is being wasted. We can make the decision to subsidize a variety of resilient, healthy crops rather than the current disproportionate support of wheat and corn. Wasting as much food as we do and eternally pushing new HFCS-laden products is unethical both economically and environmentally. We can keep our citizens and our land healthier by prioritizing these things. If we can reduce our waste, less land, fertilizer inputs, water, and fossil fuels will be necessary to produce our food. If we make healthier, higher-quality food accessible to everyone, we will be a stronger society overall, and the quality of life will improve for millions of people. Access to food is a human right. Everyone deserves food security, regardless of where they live or their economic status (especially in a country as rich as the US!).

Speaking of human rights, let's get back to racism in America. Though we've made strides in the right direction, our country still operates from a position of white supremacy. BIPOC populations have never experienced true equality in our nation's history, and nearly every aspect of daily life is still affected by old racist policies. From the quality of schools, to housing locations + ease of ownership, to the criminal justice system, to discrimination in the workplace and more, there are collections of data for each that show that non-white populations are disproportionately affected by policies and the implicit biases of those in power. For just one example, consider this: Though white and Black people use marijuana at similar rates, Black people are approximately 2.5x more likely to be arrested on possession charges. This helps us put numbers on a set of implicit biases that are unmeasurable in the moment. The consequences of this means that more Black people are removed from their families + communities, disrupting their chances for success and that of their children. While many BIPOC people have grown up with great opportunities and/or have become very successful, our system overall makes it harder to do so, and the resulting inequality continues to leave many people behind. We need to be create a more equal society now, and not wait until climate consequences start to pile up. Without equal opportunities and infrastructure, it is guaranteed that disproportionate numbers of BIPOC people will continue to suffer unnecessarily.

Oregon's beautiful, rugged coast as it looks in 2021. Sea level rise could change that over time.

The level of poverty we see in a country as wealthy as America is unacceptable. We can make the choice to take better care of our people, we just shy away from that for now in favor of "bootstraps" logic. While it's incredibly difficult to pull oneself out of poverty already, the effects of climate change will only make it harder, and I imagine it will cause people to become even more selfish with their resources. Protecting everyone in the uncertain years to come will require collaboration and generosity that seems to be so difficult to come by these days. I do believe it's possible, though, and it starts with recognizing our place in this white supremacist, unchecked capitalist society and using every ounce of our privilege and influence to stand up for those who are being underserved. Safe housing, healthy food, and equal treatment are such basic human needs that it's easy to get fired up about making sure everyone gets them. We have the power to work together to make a more just system for all.

So, you might not hear me talking specifically about climate change much anymore, though it remains a topic of huge importance. I believe it will require relentless collaborative effort between corporations, governments, and dedicated individuals from around the world to overcome. My words online won't do much of anything to change that, but I do believe we have more of an input in these subcategories that affect real people in our lives every day. As the effects of climate change continue to reveal themselves, we have a responsibility to take care of one another and the planet we call home. If we don't actively fight for climate justice now, we'll dig a bigger hole than we can ever dig ourselves out of, both economically and environmentally, and an untold number of people will suffer because of it.

Housing justice is climate justice.

Food justice is climate justice.

Racial justice is climate justice.

These things shouldn't have to affect you personally for you to care about them (although I'm pretty confident that everyone reading this has been or will be affected by climate change in their lifetime). If Mother Nature has taught me anything over the years, it's that she doesn't discriminate along any of the lines we've constructed. Climate justice is up to us, and it has to protect everyone. When Mother Nature decides it's time to turn on your home and safety, aren't you going to want your fellow humans to stand up for you?

I hope you enjoyed reading my post, and that it inspired you to fight a little harder for justice. Please email me if you'd like to have a discussion, or if you'd like more information about the sources I used. Happy Earth Day!