Forging a new path.

I’ve just tried to read this excellent essay by climate scientist Joelle Gergis in the Quarterly Essay which came out in August 2024.

It is an insightful, detailed piece of writing about climate change, and about the lagging, lazy response of successive Australian (and international) governments to this critical issue, and the continuing pandering to fossil fuel companies.

I say I tried to read it because Joelle has gone into detail about the myriad ways the planet is burning, and the lack of action. Much of it I don’t understand, much of it I found so devastating to read I had to skip over it. Fundamentally though the key takeaways for me are that the planet is already getting hotter year on year, collectively governments aren’t doing enough, they’re attempting to circumvent the issue by using carbon capture technology that is not effective enough, and we need to recognise that Australia can be a leader in this space - we have sun and water and space to deliver excellent renewable energy options, but we’re not doing this.

I read this while seeing the news of wildfires absolutely ravishing LA.

And I had that most awful of feelings, the feeling that most challenges my neurodiverse brain - I felt, and feel, like this is all beyond my control.

I know that people will respond to that sentence by saying ‘but we can do so much as individuals, we have to think global and act local’, and as much as I can, I do, but Team, come on, there’s only so much that my composting, recycling, buying secondhand clothes, planting trees in my garden, eating less meat and catching public transport can do. I vote for the climate and I write to politicians when the very worst decisions are made. But let’s be real, this is peanuts!

I am also deeply trapped in late stage capitalism. I overconsume, and I often consume for convenience (ready made meals and snacks in plastic wrap, driving 500m to pick up my kids rather than walking, forgetting my reuseable coffee cup but buying the coffee anyway in the disposable cup). I could do all of those things better, but I’m not sure how much impact it would have on the planet, and the impact it would have on me - as I try to work full time to pay the mortgage and rising living costs, raise two kids, keep the house tidy, sleep at least 7 hours a night, exercise regularly, support my ageing parents and be a decent human - would be massive. So even though I feel guilty everytime, the convenience of a squeezable plastic yoghurt pouch for my kids lunchboxes does make my life just a bit easier.

But that’s representative of the culture isn’t it. That’s what we are all doing. We are taking the easy option. Yes as individuals, but our governments are also taking the easy option, they are pandering to fossil fuel companies, because it is easier than pushing against their dominance, than, forging a new path.

So my overarching question is ‘what do I do?’, what can I do? Yes, I can reduce the plastic I use, I can go and help with my local landcare group (with what time, I don’t know?), and encourage my community to drive less and eat less meat, but these are tiny, negligible responses in the face of a catastrophic climate crisis. And, I can see how easily people slip into the nihilism of ‘why should I inconvenience myself and consume less which has minimal impact, while governments and corporates continue to chant “burn baby burn” to the planet’.

So what do I do? What do we do? I’m genuinely asking.

Normally I am innately hopeful, but in the face of all of this I don’t know how to be. Please give me some hope, or at least some action I can take.