One more thing you can do about climate change!–Join ICEJ and Simpler Living on Mon. Nov. 13 downtown
I’m going to start this with a confession. Do I get burned out sometimes on the urgency of doing something about climate change? Thanks for asking, yes I do. Do I know what exactly is the single best thing to do about climate change? No I don’t, although I will say that I always feel doing something is better than doing nothing. Do I sometimes wish climate change would just go away so I would not have to worry so much and could spend more time in my studio. YYYEEESSS!!!! So I get it when even people of very good will find it hard to get excited about the next climate protest. We’re sick of this, already!
Unfortunately climate change does not factor in the limits of human attention or concern as it hurtles onward. As long as we continue putting more CO2 (and methane and nitrous oxide and–you get it) into the air, planetary warming just keeps on keeping on. And unfortunately, we are putting more CO2 into the atmosphere than ever before. The simple calculus is that this needs to level off and then start moving back down and that means a huge shift in our energy sector and the financial sector which enables it. We could give up now but the price we will pay later will be extremely high. So no matter how burned out or overloaded we get, we need to hang in there and keep taking small and large steps–personally and as a civilization.
So that brings me to my ask (you knew this was coming!!). The Interfaith Coalition for Earth Justice and partners is putting together an event that we’re calling From Ashes to Action: Honoring Our Climate Dead, Protesting Fossil Fuel Banks. That’s a bit of a mouthful but the point is to honor the two million people who have died over the last fifty years from extreme weather events, most of which were exacerbated by climate change AND to protest the four big US banks–Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, and Wells Fargo–who in just six years (2016-2022) have poured over one trillion dollars into the fossil fuel industry enabling its extraction and burning of the dirty energy that drives climate change. If we want our grandchildren (maybe our children) to have a liveable future, THIS MUST STOP.
So please join us on Monday, November 13 at 11 AM, when we will meet before Bank of America at 655 W. Broadway in downtown San Diego, hold a very brief memorial service and then move on to the other three banks for more “services” from other religious traditions. Register here for this crucial witness This event is sponsored by the Interfaith Coalition for Earth Justice and partners including GreenFaith, SanDiego350, Third Act So Cal, and CleanEarth4Kids. For more information, contact Phil Petrie at phil@icejsd.org.
– Phil Petrie
Thank you, Phil, for keeping this issue front and center. And thank you for sharing small actions we can participate in to add our voice to move the solution incrementally closer. It helps to be aware of who the funders are so we can take our business elsewhere.