Must we? Can we? Will we?

Taylor Kate Brown
Aug 22, 2017 · 5 min read

In this newsletter: And here we are already, towards the end of the summer. A collection of short stories about what I’ve been seeing, reading and thinking about in the past few months. The subscription link for this newsletter is here. The archive is here.

the marsh in Silver Sands state park in Connecticut

I watched Al Gore answer questions on CNN about his new movie about climate change one evening in West Virginia. It was electrifying to see climate get a whole hour on prime time television, but also, Al Gore. He’s trying so hard, guys, but his essential Al Gore-ness is hard to get over.

At the very end though, he framed the whole issue in three questions: Must we? Can we? Will we? The answer to the first two, he said in that low Tennessee drawl I had forgotten about, was yes. The third was the open question, it depended on all the parts of “we”. I would have said the second also depended on that, but Anderson Cooper must have been signaling the hour was almost up, wrap it up, Al.

Good news, everyone. We have more than an hour. And the stories are showing up more and more, even if you’re not looking very hard.


I ran into a Soofa near work. It’s a seat! It’s a solar charger for your light electronics! It’s gathering … other information? It costs… how much? I’m fascinated by these things, and will be looking at learning how they work in my city.

hello.

Last week, I was exchanging vacation photos with some relatives who recently bought land in South Dakota, near Crazy Horse. I mentioned the wind turbine farms I always see when my husband and I drive up Michigan’s thumb to the beach. They are proper farms — dozens of six-storey turbines arranged in a grid that disappears beyond the visible horizon.

This photo really doesn’t do it justice I find myself oddly moved by what’s curved metal and some wiring. But one of the towns in the thumb recently turned down an offer to build another farm, and along the main road, I saw anti-turbine signs here and there (including one hilariously across the street from a real estate company with an entire roof full of solar panels). Sure, I find them beautiful, a sign of our attempts to drag ourselves out of a carbon-based economy, but I thought about how residents might think about such an offer of more of these. Ultimately more wind farms means more of that energy blown-in by the wind would leave the Thumb. So it would be a visual imposition from more populated areas; other people’s energy demands, colonized in your back yard. I can see why you might be concerned. My relatives — when they saw them in South Dakota — found them creepy. And the thing is, none of us are “right” about the emotional reactions such giants create in us.

So I did a poll:

Hardly scientific, but I was most intrigued by the responses. “Normal!” said a friend who grew up (and recently returned) to Nebraska. “When I first saw them I was about 7–8. I found them SUPER creepy,” a friend in a more rural area of the UK said. “But they’re all over the fen now.”

Maybe its a matter of what’s normal and what we expect, and what changes and what’s always been there. Wind is growing fast. Wind farm construction is up 40% from this time last year in the US, an industry group reports. And largest on-shore wind farm in the US is about to be built in Oklahoma. The economics of the thing are very clear — over the long term, renewables are insanely good deals.

Some other green energy things: A Native American reservation known for a coal plant builds its first solar farm — and there’s room to expand. Tesla will install solar roof tiles now — but people are skeptical. A Missouri utility is trying to solve one of the most difficult technical questions about solar with very different pricing. A Vermont utility is trying to get people OFF the grid (it makes sense, I swear). Will there be an Airbnb for electric vehicles?


“They don’t know what’s going on and can’t say anything because they are in cool houses and in offices.”

That’s what Adolfo Guerra told the New York Times about political and business leadership in the US and why there’s less immediate change around climate issues. Guerra works outdoors nine hours a day, six days a week, so he feels it. Climate change is his everyday, and one of his colleagues nearly died because of the temperatures.

This is one of the most difficult elements of a changing climate — those who can have the most impact on the business and political are least likely to be harmed first by its effects. Sure, it feels awful when you go outside, but if you work indoors, your health is likely not at risk. Climate isn’t just about rising seas, its about a whole range of changes — heat, disease, agri- and aqua-culture.


A few newsletters ago I spoke to Madeline Witt, who was creating a book of climate change-related comics. But I was still excited when I recieved Warmer in the mail this week.

Here’s a few more artists who are making climate change more visceral from Outside Magazine.

(photo via Outside Online, from Sean “Hula” Yoro)

Speaking of people who aren’t Al Gore: the former governor of California, and well, you know, has developed a state-level legislative guide to environmental laws. It’s mostly examples of bills that worked in states that had strong support for this kind of legislation, but has fairly detailed information for each.

“The message to legislators with the project is now ‘you have the power to do it yourselves,” the governator tells Politico. “The reality is each state now goes to work and passes great legislation that helps them…make great decisions.”


I hope the rest of the summer treats you well. TPYS will be back after Labor Day.

— Taylor

The Planet You Save May Be Your Own

Stories and links from your neighborhood climate heroes

)

Taylor Kate Brown

Written by

All things features for @BBCNorthAmerica. Human🤔. Ex-@wheatonmdpatch @columbiajourn. 📰 http://tinyletter.com/theplanetyousave

The Planet You Save May Be Your Own

Stories and links from your neighborhood climate heroes

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade