91 Comments
Aug 20, 2021Liked by Emily Atkin

Please pet Fish and also give him a nose kiss. Happy Friday!

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Hi Emily, thanks for taking the initiative on sharing climate SOLUTIONS! Three months ago I decided, with some friends, to run a campaign to get Toronto City Council to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. One month in we held a public (online) launch. After two months it came to a vote at the city and passed 22- 2. We have a conservative-minded council so this was a major victory and due to the grassroots lobbying of constituents in the wards where we needed to move the vote. People set up meetings with their councillors and we got 1027 signatures on a petition to the Mayor. I invite everyone to bring the fossilfueltreaty.org initiative to your city council (start by signing on as an individual, or sign your organization on). This is part of pressure building to get the Canadian gov't to agree to NO MORE fossil fuel infrastructure permits, funding, or exploration; develop a planned phaseout from fossil fuels (meaning getting everyone off natural gas and onto heat pumps for home heating/cooling and hot water, and restructuring transportation to favour bikes, pedestrians, transit and EVs. And a just transition with training for workers and job security for communities. It's a great program and it needs to go world wide. Vancouver, Toronto, Los Angeles Barcelona, and Sydney Australia have signed on. Who's next?

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Great ideas from everyone! If you can do it consider making the transition to a climate career so you get paid to fix the climate! If you don’t turn the gears and move the levers you can balance the books and sell the services or products of your chosen co-workers. ClimateCareerMoves.com is for ideas and ways to transition to green jobs for the climate! Get started today or help someone else make their move!!

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Hi Emily,

Thank you so much for featuring The Climate Fresk and our work to boost climate education.

I just wanted to point out, there's a mistake in the description of the game: the goal of the Climate Fresk is to build a visual representation of the climate system from causes (human activities & fossil fuels) to the impacts on humans and biodiversity.

There was a mix up with another game that was also featured in the comments from your last post, a game about the decarbonization of the NYC electricity grid. That game is called Energetic.

For more info about the Climate Fresk: https://climatefresk.org/

For more info about Energetic: https://newyork.thecityatlas.org/energetic/

Just wanted to clarify.

Thanks! 💚

Laure

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Regarding "divestment," there is $35 TRILLION USD tied up (as of 2020) in US Retirement funds - that is the equivalent to more than 1/3 of the world's GDP. Join a community of folks working to move that money from accounts that are funding fossil fuel industries to "self-directed" investments and funds that use that money to fund community-based investments. Learn more at www.thenextegg.org. You can also read more at our article we published in the Harvard Law Review: https://harvardlawreview.org/2021/04/rethinking-retirement-savings/

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I just registered as a mineral rights owner and send a calendar invite to bank reps who fund Line 3. That was fun. I'm working on a NY state campaign with JFREJ and Caring Majority to pass Fair Pay for Home Care. Care jobs are green jobs!

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2 small things. I have put a link to your What to do about Climate Change edition into my business & personal email signature. I also put a page on my company website all about Line 3 with links to donate etc. (we do DEI, leadership development and coaching work and are a collective so it was easy to get everyone to agree) https://www.activateinclusion.com/get-involved

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I volunteer to hand-write personal messages in letters to potential voters in swing districts, through votefwd.org. While the organization has strict rules against writing partisan messages ("vote for democrats"), I have found it possible (and highly satisfying) to craft a message about climate change that isn't partisan - I focus on the need for clean air and water, things that people on all sides of the political spectrum want and deserve.

Volunteers are needed to write and stockpile letters now, with a mail date of September 18, for Virginia's off-year election cycle.

https://votefwd.org/campaigns

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Please pet Fish! All the pets for Fish because he's such a good boy. <3 Thank you for the hope and solutions and reporting offered in your newsletter, too!

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James Hansen says the single most impactful thing you can do about climate change is to join and become an active member of Citizens' Climate Lobby (cclusa.org).

CCL is a grassroots, nonpartisan effort to create the political will to enable Congress to pass effective and equitable climate legislation, starting with cash-back carbon pricing.

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act now in Congress is based on CCL's Carbon Fee and Dividend policy proposal, and it is powerful. It will reduce US carbon emissions by 40 percent in in 12 years. It will put more money in most people’s pockets. It WILL also protect US jobs and strongly encourage all other countries to match our carbon price.

No single policy can do everything that is required, so other complimentary federal policies are of course also needed. But leading climate scientists and economists say this is our best first step.

CCL offers easy, quick actions to help people be effective advocates for change, like writing Congress at cclusa.org/write, and provides free training, resources, and support for much more at community.citizensclimate.org.

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I am a socially conscious wealth coach who started blogging at https://www.richandresilientliving.com/ to help people earn, spend, invest, and manage their money and lifestyles in ways that lead to a regenerative future.

Four years ago I moved the majority of my retirement savings from an employer based retirement plan, which limited me to investing in Wall Street offerings, into a self-directed IRA, which allows me to invest in a much wider array of assets. (I'm also a member of The Next Egg, which Erin Axelrod – who introduced me to this newsletter – mentioned in a comment below.)

Now my retirement savings is invested in things like loans to regenerative farmers through https://gosteward.com/, helping families at risk of foreclosure stay in their homes through AHP Fund (https://www.ahpfund.com/), and an ownership share of a local permaculture farm. I have compiled what I've learned about regenerative investing outside of the stock market for non-wealthy investors like myself into a pay what you want Beginner's Guide to Regenerative Investing (https://richresilientliving.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1101776).

I'm not interested in helping people hoard wealth, but to get to a place of enough so that the surplus can then be directed outwards where it's needed most. I think a great deal about building climate resilient wealth – wealth that not only has a regenerative impact on people & planet, but also emphasizes assets that can help us navigate these climate challenges, because that's going to require much more than just money. We need to be thinking in terms of experiential capital, social capital, natural capital, and other non-monetary forms of wealth in our own personal pursuits of climate and financial resilience as well as for thriving together in community.

Please pet Fish behind the ears!

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It is great you are emphasizing that everyone can do their part, even in what may seem small ways. Because if there is one that the IPCC makes clear, it is that every ton of carbon prevented counts.

Thank you for the wonderful article.

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This list is a great idea...it cuts through the overwhelm to show the strength of individual action. I'd also note that once climate activism becomes a 'status symbol', influencers will create a stampede to outdo one another on Instagram and YouTube, as will their followers.

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Hey foodies and locavores -- become a Climatarian, and dine with the earth in mind. “What Is a Climatarian?” (NY Times). Wikipedia: Climatarian diet has no strict rules so much as “mindfulness about food production, where food comes from, and where it goes.” Importantly, Climatarians are mindful about where your food goes - not to the landfill! Lots of us making small changes in our food choices, and what we do with food we don't eat can transform our food system to Regenerative.

Science: Drawdown #1 solution for the US - Reduce Food Waste. 40% of food grown is wasted in the US, with 70% generated at the household level. #2 Solution - Plant Rich Diet (not no-meat, just less meat, and no CAFOs). Let's make #Climatarian trend. Join us @Climatarian.Cafe

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I really appreciate this newsletter for keeping me checked IN when I am tempted to check OUT. Thank you Emily and co. for all the great suggestions!

P.S. Please pet Fish :)

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First, THANK YOU for sharing these excellent resources! I enjoyed becoming a mineral rights holder—I so love the idea of throwing annoying, complex paperwork into the gears of fossil fuel companies.

I write a monthly newsletter with climate news & solutions for family and friends; I’ll include some of these actions with my group.

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