Coping with Our Feelings about Climate Change
Courtesy Whidbey Institute, Cascadia Climate Collaborative
Climate destabilization is accelerating more rapidly than scientists predicted. It does not lie somewhere in the future; it is happening right now. Extreme weather events have become routine, and their intensity is growing, affecting entire communities, human and non-human. We have responded largely by seeking alternative technologies, fighting fossil fuel extraction, and pressing for greener policies. These are important, but the climate crisis is more than a technical problem. It is a human problem, encompassing not only scientific but psychological, cultural, moral, and spiritual dimensions.
Those working on climate issues and who know the urgency of the crisis face indifference, denial, or even hostility, and often suffer from isolation and burnout. As one parent said, “I can’t talk to my child about what I do; it’s too hard.” The hazard is not just in the physical effects of climate change but the emotional storms that frequently attend our efforts: denial, fear, anger, despair, and grief. In light of this, emotional and personal resilience are indispensable survival equipment in the quest for a livable future.
The climate crisis is not an environmental problem. It is a human problem. Humans have caused it and only humans can act to avert catastrophe. Yet many of us continue to live as if this crisis isn’t happening. Even those who accept the science, and care a lot. The time has come to go beyond the science, to a place of heart. The time has come to tap our deepest sources of moral courage and commitment.
Moral Power for Climate Action, (from 2014)
Moreover, as Kathleen Dean Moore points out, climate change is a moral issue that challenges the placement of our own well-being above the very survival of the most vulnerable, including our children and grandchildren. Every significant movement in history, from abolition to civil rights, has ultimately gained political traction through moral reasoning and right action. To ignore this, she adds, “is a terrible strategic mistake.”
A community and gathering place
The Cascadia Climate Collaborative was born in 2013 to help strengthen the climate movement by linking diverse groups of climate leaders, engaging with tough ethical and emotional questions, and encouraging wider participation.
For the past two years, they have hosted strategic gatherings of climate leaders from their bioregion at the Whidbey Institute. These gatherings have featured leaders such as Climate Solutions co-founder KC Golden, author Kathleen Dean Moore, and youth activist Alec Loorz. Conference time has been given to inspiring “flash talks” by other leading thinkers, including conference attendees, on such topics as dealing with denial, re-framing the global warming meme, taking effective direct action, addressing despair, and cultivating personal resilience.
The 3rd annual Cascadia Climate Conference will be held April 17-18, 2015, featuring keynote presenters Elizabeth May, Leader of Canada’s Green Party, and her daughter, Victoria Cate May Burton. KC Golden, Senior Policy Advisor of Climate Solutions and Interim Board Chair of 350.org, will also present a “state of the movement” report. This year’s conference focus is the moral and emotional dimensions of climate change in an intergenerational context.