This article was published in the April Issue Centerspread as part of a Head-to-Head with Opinions Managing Editor Ezra Kleinbaum. Read Kleinbaum’s opposing piece on the Opinions page.
Climate change is humanity’s most pressing, most threatening issue today. Many people worldwide have lost hope in our species’ ability to combat the climate crisis—a crisis they recognize has already had a devastating impact on our world. On the other hand, many others, from Brookline to Antarctica, recognize that policy solutions are not impossible and can have significant, present-day impacts on our world if enough people are willing to advocate for them.
What do you think of when climate change comes to mind? Is it the devastating consequences and byproducts of global warming—wildfires in California, hurricanes in Florida, floods in Bangladesh and other tragedies—exacerbated by the current ceaseless combustion of fossil fuels? Or does your mind first jump to solutions—policies that uplift communities, expand access to sustainable technology and most importantly, expand access to the priceless commodity of hope?
Personally, I prefer to think of solutions. My second half of high school has been defined by climate advocacy—mainly looking to the future of sustainable policies in Brookline. I have spent the past two years co-leading the BHS Climate and Food Justice Club in its advocacy for sustainable transportation and working with the transportation subgroup of the School Committee’s Climate and Sustainability Task Force, which presented its recommendations to the School Committee this past fall. I even joined the Town’s Bicycle Advisory Committee last fall because I strongly believe that encouraging bicycling is essential to reducing our emissions and crash fatalities to zero.
I’m a policy nerd who has spent years advocating for sustainability in Brookline, and I urge students to join me in my quest for a more climate-friendly future. My experiences have been varied, full of successes and failures. While climate activism is often frustrating and, at the local level, often entirely symbolic in nature, people shouldn’t dismiss it as futile. Climate-specific policies, in almost every case, have highly beneficial side effects in the communities they target.
Last summer, while working at Brookline Interactive Group to direct and produce a video on sustainability, I sought to highlight the importance of climate-forward policies relating to food, energy, transportation and education (each category represented a subcommittee of the Climate and Sustainability Task Force). Many of the Town’s “best practices”– reusables in school cafeterias, geothermal heating and cooling, bicycle infrastructure improvements and climate education—have wide-ranging positive consequences beyond their obvious contribution to our net-zero climate goals.
Take a look at the Food Services Department, which has dramatically reinvented itself to become sustainable in every sense of the word (largely thanks to Ezra’s efforts!). When I interviewed PSB Director of Food Services Sasha Palmer, I was amazed to learn how much money the district has saved by transitioning from disposable foodware and utensils to reusables: hundreds of thousands of dollars! Additionally, the introduction of plant-based meals to school cafeterias works wonders for the environment while improving the nutritional health of thousands of students.
Similarly, clear-cut sustainable practices in Brookline’s buildings, such as those advocated for by local advocacy groups and the Sustainability Task Force’s Energy Subcommittee, are similarly worth advocating for. In my sustainability video, State Representative Tommy Vitolo says the Pierce and Driscoll geothermal projects “cost much less to operate” and will save the town “far more money in the long run” than less sustainable modes of heating and cooling. This goes to show that advancing sustainability is a fiscally sound strategy for local governments, in addition to being environmentally responsible.
Regarding transportation, climate-conscious decision-making has a whole host of benefits. Reducing car usage, particularly in the context of people’s commutes, does not just lower emissions. More walking and biking mean more exercise, more time outdoors and more fun. Both modes of travel are infinitely superior to driving, which involves colossal levels of emissions, many minutes stuck in traffic, illegal parking and tens of thousands of deaths each year in the U.S., to say the least. Advocates and policymakers ought to see transportation sustainability as both the sustainability of human wellbeing and a way to reduce emissions.
Additionally, climate education has the power to uplift students in the face of stress and discouragement. In the words of social studies teacher Roger Grande, climate advocacy “is the antidote to despair.” When students begin exploring solutions to the climate crisis, Grande says in the video, “they begin to see themselves as powerful and impactful…and that’s phenomenal for all of our social-emotional wellbeing.”
Yes, global warming is a colossal, terrifying problem. Yes, my personal experience with climate advocacy has been full of ups and downs. Yes, the current presidential administration wants to “drill, baby, drill” despite the overwhelming scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels pose catastrophic consequences for the planet’s health. But should concerned citizens simply surrender to the current political climate (pun intended) and allow our democracy to be converted into a petro-state? The answer is no; students and teachers in Brookline, and elsewhere, have the moral and civic responsibility to prevent this from happening.
While seeking to protect our home planet through transformative, sustainable policies, Brookline has made leaps and bounds in improving the health, safety and financial stability of its residents, preserving our climate-conscious community for the next century of challenges. We can’t afford to let cynicism distract us from the many beautiful upsides to sustainability. As has long been my view, if humanity commits to saving the planet, we’ll save ourselves in the process. Give climate activism a chance for the promise a more sustainable future offers us all.
