“Hope hurts, and feels at times pointless, yet we have to keep doing it. It’s the only way,” says Diego Arguedas Ortiz in a 9th January 2020 BBC Future article, Is it wrong to be hopeful about climate change?
TL;DR: It’s wrong, if you use hope as a drug to stupefy yourself into carrying on as usual, with no action of any kind. It’s not wrong, if you take your hope and act on it, or support people who act. If you can’t march, spread the word. If you can’t run for office, support a candidate who pledges to pursue climate change mitigation.
In another article, Ten simple ways to act on climate change, Ortiz says, “We know that climate change is happening – but there are plenty of things individuals can do to help mitigate it.”
After discussing some of these things, he ends with:
If you simply can’t make every change that’s needed, consider offsetting your emissions with a trusted green project – not a ‘get out of jail free card’, but another resource in your toolbox to compensate that unavoidable flight or car trip. The UN Climate Convention keeps a portfolio of dozens of projects around the world you can contribute to. To find out how many emissions you need to ‘buy’ back, you can use its handy carbon footprint calculator.
Emily Dickenson had it wrong:
“Hope” is the thing with feathers – (314)
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.
It’s asking, Emily. It’s asking now.
A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: Write about hope.
MA
