Editor’s note: This commentary is by Kevin Leveret, of White River Junction, a retired software engineer who has resided in the Upper Valley for 27 years.
[T]he universe is, on average, a cold and lonely place; a few degrees above absolute zero on average, and usually less than 6 protons per cubic meter. Nonetheless there are a few seemingly “enlightened” areas, such as the one we are most interested in: our home, the third rock from the sun. Unfortunately, current trends look bleak in regard to our planet’s health; its well-being is compromised by pollution. Especially noxious are the so-called “greenhouse gases,” which raise temperatures worldwide, melting glaciers and icecaps, causing calamitous storms, and driving habitats and their denizens pole-ward to beat the heat.
There are powerful obstructions to rectifying the damage. Climate deniers disbelieve the scientific proof CO2 degrades the environment. Deniers are rife in our government, and occupy its highest offices. Many obstructionists act as deniers, yet recognize the havoc pumping carbon into the atmosphere does. Why? The economics speak strongest to them. Few realize the advantage is short lasting. Moderate politicians agree the climate’s out of whack, but by advocating “caution,” they run out the time on our clock of opportunity (a dozen years), inviting catastrophic climate change. Climate detractors are present in the general population as well as government office. Can we change the mindset of all these malefactors? Can we undo the habits and damage induced since the beginning of the industrial revolution? The odds of irreparable damage to our beautiful big blue marble — the only habitable planet we know of in this cold lonely universe — are real, and growing monotonically worse.
You’d think that a state as progressive as ours would have no trouble passing no new fossil fuel infrastructure legislation. As a senior who participated in the Youth Lobby’s Rally for the Planet this past May Day in Montpelier, I witnessed young advocates march up the street to the Statehouse, and joined in with some like-minded codgers bringing up the rear. After assembling on the capitol lawn, youth representatives from across the state testified for climate justice — within yards of where Speaker Mitzi Johnson, Gov. Phil Scott, and Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe months earlier decided there would be no climate legislation this term. The difference between the two teams on that field was whose future is being ruined.
Two weeks later, protesters delivered speeches on the climate crisis from the Statehouse second-floor gallery, and highlighted the Legislature’s failure to address it. Speaker Johnson gave no ground to the protesters, and the cops arrived just in time to dispense intolerance. Of course this skirmish was nothing like the protests 50 years ago, but the theme is invariant: The politicians stonewall and the people know the time for action is now.
According to Science Daily, Janet Swim, professor of psychology at Penn State, said the findings (after the March for Science and the People’s Climate March in the spring of 2017) suggest that climate change marches can have positive effects on bystanders. “Marches serve two functions: to encourage people to join a movement and to enact change,” Swim said. “This study is consistent with the idea that people who participate in marches can gain public support, convince people that change can occur, and also normalize the participants themselves.”
Anecdotally, I can back this statement up: I’ve been marching for our climate each clement workday from my home near the Hartford High School since late December. I carry a sign urging spectators to tell their representatives “Climate Justice is top priority,” walking past the Hartford Town Hall, across the Lyman Bridge (over the mighty Connecticut River) to the bus stop across from Dunkin Donuts in West Lebanon, and circle back to the library. At first people mostly scratched their heads. Some offered the “middle finger salute.” But as the weeks turned to months, more vehicles beeped their horns, fewer “saluted,” and Stephani (the waitress) would come out of Shyrl’s Diner, offering a rebel yell for the cause. You are all invited to join me: I start my trek from The Haven bus kiosk at 9:30 most mornings. Let’s get the message to the three horsemen of the climate apocalypse (Johnson, Scott, Ashe): This crisis is the greatest existential threat our species has ever faced, and we must resolve it immediately.
