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Dear
friends,
Recently, I wrote a opinion piece for Commonwealth Magazine,
"COVID-19’s lessons for climate change". You can read the full piece here, but here’s the
conclusion:
All parts of our work, from fossil fuel pollution to the clean
energy economy to preparing for climate impacts, all of these things
exist and will continue to exist in a racist society. So when
we apply a race-neutral lens to a racist society, we will continue to
produce racist outcomes.
It is only when we apply a race-positive lens, when we actively work
to dismantle and undo the systems of oppression that permeate every
part of society, that we can hope to produce truly race-neutral
outcomes. Where, in proportion to our population, those most harmed by
extreme weather events are just as likely to be white as black or
brown, where those getting access to the new jobs created by the clean
energy economy and benefitting from investments in resilience are just
as likely to be black and brown as white. We have so much work to do,
and so little time to do it in. But what choice do we have but to work
in earnest to combat these centuries-long systems of oppression? To do
otherwise is to accept an implicit devaluation of black and brown
lives, of black and brown dreams, of black and brown rights. Surely,
that is not something we want to let happen.
In short, we need to reduce pollution much more quickly than
most care to admit, and we must do it in with a strong, anti-racist
lens that centers the voices, experiences, and needs of black,
indigenous, Latinx, and other traditionally marginalized groups.
This will not be easy. In fact, it will be incredibly hard.
But climate change, like the coronavirus, does not care for the
difficulty of the task before us. It simply asks the question: will we
rise to the occasion, and be our best selves? Or will we ignore
experts, dither and delay, and then express surprise and remorse when
disaster strikes and hits black and brown communities first and
worst?
The choice is in our hands, and we have precious little time to
choose.
Sincerely,
Craig S. Altemose
Co-Founder and Senior Advisor, 350 Massachusetts
Executive Director, Better Future Project
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