We don’t live in the world. We live in our stories about the world. —NewStories.org
The stories we tell ourselves about climate change are important because they govern how we act. Here are three common stories about the situation we find ourselves in.
1. What, Me Worry?
Things are under control. We’ve always had fires, floods and diseases. Our leaders will deal with the problem. Corporate and tech industry ingenuity will provide solutions. I can do a few things if they aren’t too inconvenient but I can relax and not worry.
2. OMG! Global Collapse
Global collapse is coming and there is nothing we can do to make a difference. There’s not much point in trying to make the situation better so I’m going to live my life and not think about it.
3. The Car Crash
Climate change is like two cars headed toward each other at high speed. There is no way we can avoid hitting the other car — massive suffering and destruction is inevitable. But we can slam on our brakes with all our power to limit the damage.
At THIS! Is What We Did we embrace the Car Crash Story and recognize the nature of the struggle.
Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, notes his naïveté earlier in his life: “I thought we were in an argument, but we were in a fight…The science has been clear for 20 years. We’ve won the argument, now we have to figure out how to win the fight.” He also said, “…it’s not that global warming is like a world war. It is a world war. And we are losing.”
We understand that this is not a debate or an argument but a fight for the life or death of the only planet we have. It will get gritty and uncomfortable and we have to be able to fight through all the barriers. We embrace the fact that we are in a fight!
We are going to hit the brakes with everything we have to save as much of this planet as we can and rescue the future so we can say, “THIS! Is What We Did” without regrets!