Climate struggles continue

Once again Greta Thunberg delivered an eloquent and impassioned address, this time at the United Nations during the Climate Action Summit.

Millions of young people around the world participated in the first day of the Global Climate Strike last Friday.

Yesterday the Climate Strike continued. In Washington, DC, climate activists blocked several intersections in the downtown area.

I’m a father, a Sunday school teacher, a youth baseball coach and an Eagle Scout. My idea of a perfect day is backpacking on the Appalachian Trail employing the “leave no trace” ethic, disrupting nothing around me.
So stepping into the middle of Independence Avenue SW in Washington, determined to block rush-hour traffic with dozens of other protesters, is not my natural comfort zone. But that’s what I did Monday morning. Perhaps we ruined your commute. For that, I am truly sorry. But it was for a higher cause, part of the #ShutdownDC initiative to combat climate change.
I’ll just be blunt: Global warming has radicalized me. It’s radicalizing young people all around us, too. Perhaps you’ve noticed. Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg has millions of climate devotees worldwide under the age of 25. And now, I submit, it’s your turn to become radical, whoever you are, wherever you live. That’s because the climate threat is now truly radical, and time is almost up.
Sorry I ruined your Monday morning commute, but our planet is on a highway to hell by By Mike Tidwell, Washington Post, Sept. 23, 2019

On August 28, a victory in the “war of the NoDAPL narrative” occurred when a judge agreed to release 12 previously sealed depositions of law enforcement officers in the criminal case against Standing Rock water protector, attorney and Lakota People’s Law Project member Chase Iron Eyes.

We went through a lot here with NODAPL and the battle for Standing Rock. A lot of people were brutalized and criminalized and we needed to seek a reprieve in a redress work for all of those people. We asked everybody to continue to lend us your ear, lend us your support, your energy because we’re fighting big extraction, we’re fighting big finance, we’re fighting the guys who are trying to destroy your children’s right to clean water in a healthy ecosystem. Things that we understand. Our birth rights so sometimes this is how we vote. We have to put our bodies in harm’s way to bring these injustices to light. What went on here today is encouraging. It’s just a reminder that there is hope. That those of us who are willing to engage this struggle can be redeemed, that people are willing to make sure we can find out the truth. But sometimes we’ve got to stay committed to the struggle, so thank you for your support.
Chase Iron Eyes

For some time now I’ve been thinking and writing about what I call the Overground Railroad, the idea being climate refugees from our coastal cities will migrate to the Midwest as oceans rise and flood those areas. https://kislingjeff.wordpress.com/2018/02/22/design-and-build-beloved-community-models/

Scientists’ Advice To People Living In Coastal Areas? Move

Any time in the wilds of Earth now brings solace, without which I lose my psychological and spiritual footing as the ongoing litany of loss, corruption, degradation, aggression, death and trauma that is the daily news assaults us all. It is in nature, and my loving nature with all my heart on a daily basis, where I find the equanimity necessary to continue walking forward into our increasingly broken world.
And you, dear reader, where is it you find your equanimity? Whether it is a place, a person, an activity, or a mental state, please remember to go there, regularly or as you are able, as the unraveling of Earth’s biosphere continues apace.
The signs are ever with us. In particular, in the past month, scientists have warned that it appears as though the Greenland Ice Sheet has experienced a record melt year. This year alone, it lost enough ice to raise global sea levels by more than one millimeter. Researchers told the BBC they are “astounded” by the acceleration in melting and expressed fear for coastal cities in the future. One scientist told the BBC, “So, we’re losing Greenland — it’s really a question of how fast,” and said Greenland is already facing a melting “death sentence.”
Scientists’ Advice To People Living In Coastal Areas? Move, by Dahr Jamail, Truthout, September 23, 2019