Climate AND Affordability+, Part One

Moving Forward with Climate Action Post-Midterms

Please Note: This is the first part of a Post-Midterms Series. This post has a wide lens and is focused on framing. Subsequent post(s) will drill down on midterm election outcomes, strategy, and actions.

Introduction

How should we think about where we are with climate action in the US after the midterms?

What frame or outlook should we employ when thinking about climate action in the US during the next two years?

“Oh, affordability, that’s the frame. That’s the ticket. Time to jump on the Affordability train ‘cause it’s leaving the station and we don’t want to be left behind with nothing.”

Here’s the deal. From my perspective we’ve always been for affordability. We don’t have to get on the train ‘cause we’ve been on it from the beginning.

As I have articulated it, here’s our vision, purpose, and Major Goal all wrapped up in 18 words: to overcome climate change by creating a just and prosperous sustainability that enhances wellbeing for everyone and everything.

Affordability happens as we create a just and prosperous sustainability that enhances wellbeing for everyone.

It’s never been climate or affordability. It’s always been climate and affordability. Never been Or. Always been And.

There are, of course, some other bogus perspectives out there, other lousy frames for thinking about climate action in the US post-mid-terms.

The Glass Three Quarters Empty Perspective

Journalism does like the negative. Why? Well, it’s the older print version of click-bait, whose dark arts practitioners have perfected the algorithmic monetization of our negative emotions like rage and anger. This newer, more potent version even has some fairly new words associated with it like “doomscrolling.”

Negative headlines capture our attention. They were clickbait before there was clickbait. In short, negative = eyeballs => $$$.

That’s why a recent Axios headline, Democrats’ Blue Wave Leaves Climate Behind, was disappointing but not surprising. The piece goes something like this:

“Negative, negative, blah, blah, blah, more negative, negative, negative. Rinse, repeat.”

Boring. Wake me up when it’s over.

In a nutshell: Dems won, but didn’t talk about climate. So it will have to be snuck in or shoehorned into affordability efforts — maybe, if we’re lucky.

So that’s the glass three-quarters empty perspective.

Let’s Be Realistic — But Which Kind?

Then there’s the “Let’s be realistic” crowd who think they have a patent on realism.

Au contraire.

Realistic Hope

I’ve always been for being realistic. We have to be if we’re going to see the reality that we must change. We must see it to change it.

I’ve said from the very beginning of this Substack that I’m offering realistic hope, grounded in reality while simultaneously envisioning what the world can be if we work to make it so. (Hint: it’s that last part that makes all the difference.)

In other words, I’m offering realistic hope, not dope-hope to make us feel good as our reality goes to hell.

I’ve already said lots of realistic tough-guy stuff about where we are as a movement in the US: we’ve lost our climate mojo, our intensity’s in the toilet, we don’t yet have the people power to achieve all that we must. As a result, political leaders have fallen prey to an insidious “climate hushing” or “climate silencing” leading to climate cowardice.

So yea, the Axios piece? Way behind. Been there. Done that. Blah, blah, blah.

But all that mojo-toilet blah, blah is not written in stone. There is hope to be had because we are the ones to make hope happen.

At the same time, for our hope to be more than whistling past the graveyard we must combine our two forms of hope: Vision Hope and Action Hope.

Vision Hope helps us see what can be. Vision-hope inspires our Action-hope. Action-hope makes our Vision Hope real. Without Action-Hope our vision will never become our new reality. But without Vision-Hope, Action-Hope won’t accomplish all that it can, all that it must.

Achieving both kinds of hope requires a certain type of action from us: growing and improving The Climate Movement so we become big and broad and active enough, our first Climate Movement characteristic/imperative/goal. That’s our #1 priority.

So we must have realistic hope.

Tough Guy Faux Realism

But there’s another faux way to be “realistic” that can short-change what we can accomplish. It thinks of itself as tough-minded. It poo-poos stretch goals by saying: “Be realistic.” In other words, lower your sights.

This is small-time thinking disguised as realism. Pessimism-lite. Realism for wimps.

As certain leaders recently put it: “We need to face the world as it is, not as we wish it to be.”

They got the first part right: face the world as it is. We must see our reality clearly precisely so we can change it.

But the second part? Wrong! The word “wish” gives it away. If we aren’t their version of “realistic” then we’re wild-eyed dreamers with our heads filled with unicorns and cotton candy.

Send an email to climatehopetogether@gmail.com. Put in the Subject line: “Interview Request.”

Well, I say we can be realistic and dream big at the same time. We don’t have to settle for small, cramped visions that limit what we can accomplish even before we start.

For small-vision, Pessimism-lite wimpy “realists,” better to dream small so we achieve a little bit.

“Oh, let’s face it. We’re small. We’ll always be small. So let’s just take this little bit and be satisfied.”

Screw that.

Be realistic and dream big.

I’ll take half of a big vision any day over all of a tiny one. And then I’ll keep on working for the other half!

So to both the glass three-quarters empty folks and the tough-guy-wimpy-pessimism-lite-let’s-be-faux-realistic-think-small crowd I say Nah. Time to bet big and be all in by saying yes to vision-hope and action-hope.

Dream big? Yea. There’s just one catch. If we dream big we must also become big so we can turn our vision into reality. Dream big and become big — they must go together. Our big vision helps us become big to achieve the vision.

Dream big? Yea. But then back it up by becoming big. Otherwise, we’re just big dreamers living off dope-hope.

Climate & Affordability+

1. Climate & Affordability

As I said at the beginning, it has never been “Climate Or Affordability.” It has always been Climate & Affordability. This is not some “Oh, climate has run out of juice, let’s jump on the affordability train” kinda deal.

And, not Or.

A just and prosperous sustainability that enhances wellbeing for everyone includes affordability — and so much more! We were for affordability even before it became a political buzzword.

So our climate action Vision is a BIG ONE, an inspiring one, that includes affordability. Always has. Always will.

2. Climate Movement People Power Creates Affordability+

But our vision wants more than just affordability. We want Affordability+. We want affordability on the way to justice and beauty and prosperous sustainability and enhanced wellbeing for everyone and everything. That’s the + in Affordability+.

And the way we’re going to achieve the + is by becoming big and broad and active enough. We must be 16 million strong by 2030 and look like America. Then we will have the power to really begin to achieve our vision.

Dream big; be big. We are the hope we’ve been waiting for. We make hope happen.

In other words, we need you! So Join Us!

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