Readers Ask What Climate Actions They Can Do to Ensure the Planet’s Future Health

Australia’s Climate Council has put together a list of actions that any one of us can do from our bedrooms. Why our bedrooms? Because during the pandemic, safe distancing is the mantra for the moment because we are all in this together. The same is true about the climate.

I thought it would be useful to borrow the Climate Council’s words and share them with you.

1. Get Friendly with the Facts

Taking action to address climate change is easier when you know and understand what information is out there from credible sources. One of those sources is this blog site. I have been researching the climate file for more than 12 years and a search request using words and phrases such as “climate change,” “global warming,” “carbon emissions,” “carbon pricing,” “greenhouse gas emissions” and “IPCC” will get you a treasure trove of reading and study material. Try it with the first phrase “climate change” and you’ll find over 1,020 articles. As you read them, don’t ignore the links to source documents from which the information comes.

Other great sources for information on climate change include NASA, NOAA, the American EPA now that Trump is no longer in charge, the United Nations and many university sites around the world

2. Email Your Political Representatives

Contacting municipal, county, state, provincial, and federal representatives to voice your concerns about climate change and to ask for action by these various levels of government will convey to them that you and others are serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the climate crisis. The more people who do this, the higher the profile for this issue. If you need help drafting a letter, let me know and I can supply a number of templates.

3. Share Activity and What’s Learned Online

In the current pandemic environment, getting together to protest the lack of action by leaders in government is not safe. But using the powerful tools of the online world is an acceptable alternative. Politicians pay attention to social media whether it be Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or other applications. So share what you learn from legitimate, science-based sources. And share what you discover about net-zero climate solutions by spreading the word as widely as possible.

4. Have a Conversation

When talking with friends and family, don’t be shy about the subject of climate change, impacts, and solutions. As an informed person, the more people you engage in this discussion, the more valid knowledge you spread. So use your newfound climate knowledge to chat about where we are, and where we have to go to fight the climate crisis.

5. Become Active in Organizations to Solve the Climate Crisis

Australia has its citizen-based Climate Council. What do you have in your country that is similar? In Canada, we have the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Around the planet, you can find 591 similar chapters of this growing grassroots citizens’ advocacy organization focused on national policies to address climate change. United States chapters are organizing to promote the passage of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act through Congress, aimed at pricing carbon emissions to help achieve net-zero by 2050.