An Opportunity to Rebuild

The Opportunity

Quarantine has consumed the last several months: no dining in restaurants, no checking out books at the library, no shopping at the mall. Many of our day to day activities, hobbies, or errands were suddenly restricted or put on hold, and we found ourselves amidst a global public health crisis that dramatically changed how we lived our lives. And now, as summer comes around, many states across the U.S. are starting to reopen. They’re implementing a variety of strategies to mitigate the spreading of COVID-19, while also giving people the hope of returning to life pre-Coronavirus. My home state of Illinois, for instance, recently released a five-phase plan to reopening the state, culminating in Phase 5: Illinois Restored.

But I don’t think that our country should be looking to “reopen” or “restore.” To reopen implies that we pressed pause and closed our doors, only to reopen later with no changes. And when we put ideas of reopening alongside ideas of restoration, it reveals the underlying goal to bring things “back to normal” and to put the quarantine lifestyle behind us.

As we look to emerge from this pandemic and re-enter the world, our efforts should not be focused on restoring life as we knew it, pre-Coronavirus. Rather, the most important thing for us to recognize is that we have an opportunity to rebuild, born out of the rubble of the systems that fell victim to the coronavirus.

We have pushed the limits of our broken public health infrastructure, watching as it failed to efficiently provide testing for Americans and halting our economy designed to be fast-growing, while sacrificing what we needed most as the pandemic spread, resilience.

But the broken systems extend beyond health infrastructure and our economy. The systems that make up the foundation of our country are broken. This magnitude of disruption quickly removed everyone from the norm and is now presenting us with two paths to pursue in the future: Reopen or Rebuild. While reopening would bring us back to business as usual, rebuilding would allow for new opportunities for growth.

It is in this discussion of the two paths that it is of the utmost importance to remember the climate crisis. Climate change has not, and will not, go away because of the coronavirus. As Bill McKibben explained in his recent interview with 60 Minutes, the physical world won’t let us pause for one crisis in order to focus on resolving another: “[physics and chemistry] don’t negotiate. They’re not gonna compromise with you. […] Biology just doesn’t care. It doesn’t care that it’s causing a recession.”

We must recognize that climate change is still a present threat. We need to be preparing to make the changes necessary so that we do not return to business as usual. Before Coronavirus, our country was not on a path to a healthy future. The footprint of the U.S. was heavy, dripping in oil and clouded in carbon dioxide. Yet, quarantine has brought some positive changes, such as reductions in global carbon dioxide emissions.

And while we may celebrate this time where we have given the earth a breather, it won’t truly matter unless we work to maintain this momentum. If we return to business as usual, the path towards lower emissions, cleaner air, and greener pastures will fade further into the background, as has historically been the case. I am not saying that we should all remain in quarantine forever. Rather, my point is that if we want to see a better future, one in which our planet is healthy, we must focus our efforts towards rebuilding our damaged systems into more sustainable ones.

What does a move toward a more resilient future look like?

For People: Things have changed, and we have certainly missed many activities, events, and outings. But just as we take things slow recovering from an illness, we must also take our re-entrance into the world with caution. I encourage you to consider how your lifestyle has changed during quarantine and what “living within your means” has meant to you during this time. Is driving your car everywhere still necessary? Will you keep supporting your local community? Asking ourselves these questions and subsequently challenging ourselves to maintain some of those changes brings us one step closer to sustainable livelihoods.

For Businesses: We live in a capitalist society, built on businesses, so we need to address the role businesses will play in rebuilding our country. Businesses need to begin to shift towards greener practices, such as implementing models of climate resilience. This can range anywhere from assessing new, sustainable business strategies to ensuring environmental accountability among company stakeholders. Businesses should evaluate their current models to see what efforts might be worth continuing post-Coronavirus.

For example, a company may consider holding more virtual meetings, as opposed to in-person meetings that require significant travel. Instead of ditching remote methods of work once the workplace reopens, businesses should seek ways to improve upon working from home so that their employees do not need to be in the workplace every day. These changes would help to lower the significant transportation emissions that arise from workplace travel. Ultimately, a more sustainable company framework would allow for better protection, performance, and adaptability to whatever situations or concerns are brought by climate change in the future.

For the Government: What policies will make the shift towards sustainability an easier process? The government has the ability to cease subsidies for fossil fuels, invest in sustainable agriculture to protect our farmers and food supply, fund research and development in clean energy, implement a greener infrastructure, and more. The Green New Deal is a policy framework worthy of consideration, as it advocates for these changes and acknowledges the intersection of climate matters with racial, social, and economic issues.

Additional measures should also be taken to separate healthcare from employment coverage, providing access to healthcare for all. This would account for less sickness and more people working and contributing to the economy, since everyone would have adequate coverage. It is critical for the government to adopt a holistic approach that includes efforts for environmental progress, universal healthcare, and education alongside political matters because all of these efforts are correlated.

How can we get there?

Find, follow, and support organizations that target the issues that matter most to you. The ClimateWorks Foundation is one organization that donates to climate solutions in a wide range of areas including transportation, food and agriculture, and finance. Alternatively, the Clean Air Task Force is an organization dedicated to achieving zero-emissions by 2050 by advocating for cleaner technologies and policy solutions, like reductions on U.S. power plant emissions. Here is one list of environmental non-profits to consider.

Call your representatives and vote. Your representatives are responsible for listening to your voice, so let them know what matters to you. Furthermore, voting in elections helps ensure your representatives are actually representing your ideas and supporting your interests. The onus is on us, as citizens in this country, to amplify the matters we want addressed and elect representatives who share similar interests and concerns. This is critical because change at the policy level will be what ultimately guides our country as we rebuild our nation, post-Coronavirus.

Discover ways to implement changes within your community. Dine at the restaurants in your community that support local farms. Start, or participate in, a community garden. Request more bike racks in public spaces. There are many ways to help support and encourage your community to support more sustainable lifestyles.

Model a better, more ecologically responsible lifestyle. By reflecting on our time spent in quarantine, we can start to make decisions as to what new habits we are willing to keep while simultaneously fighting the urge to completely return to business as usual, which is how we got to this point. It is imperative that we are better prepared for the future, which will likely mean addressing a pandemic and climate crisis simultaneously.

So, though we wish for things to return to normal, we must also consider the opportunity we have before us. We have a real chance to create a new normal, one in which the systems are reliable and strong, and the planet is healthy. We must seize this opportunity before it is too late.