What Matters to You Most?

Piles of books beneath my bed beckon as I lie on the floor doing my morning exercises. Experience has proved that engrossing novels read at night are not conducive to sleep, so the under-bed books tend toward educational topics: memoirs, history, and Nature. They linger there, gathering an embarrassing blanket of dust, until my eye rests on a title and stops. A few weeks ago, my wandering gaze found Saving Us by Katharine Hayhoe.  

I don’t remember how the book found its way to the under-bed library – a gift? An NPR interview? A review in The Week?  If anything, the title made me wary. Positive as it sounded, the need for “saving” indicates dire straits, and I already worry about the well-being of the planet and my fellow creatures. Did I really want my bedtime focus to be environmental crises? Sigh. Apparently so.

 

As it turned out, the book is fascinating and hopeful.  As top climate scientist for The Nature Conservancy, Dr. Hayhoe is an optimist whose enthusiasm in describing solutions both possible and underway make for an informative read. It has been years since I underlined, starred, and dog-eared a book to such a degree.

 

Dr. Hayhoe is realistic in documenting the causes and consequences of excess carbon in the atmosphere, but in Saving Us, she emphasizes successes and initiatives as well: planting trees and “green roofs” in urban settings to help reduce temperatures and absorb carbon; “cap and trade” programs that allow companies to work toward carbon reduction while buying or selling credits as needed; the addition of hybrid and electric vehicles to automakers’ offerings.  

 

While a united political front lags, many towns and corporations recognize the economic implications of climate change and are taking action. Remarkably, in 2019, 70% of new electrical installations worldwide were clean energy, and in 2020, that percentage increased to 90%.  In my town of Easton, we are fortunate - and grateful - that forward-thinking by the town’s Energy and Environment Task Force resulted in the installation of a solar field that offsets 100% of the elementary school’s energy use. 

 

In Saving Us, Dr. Hayhoe stresses the importance of conversations about climate change as integral to meaningful action. She acknowledges that numbers, graphs, and scientific jargon can be overwhelming and, for some, serve only to harden their stance in dismissing the reality of the crisis. Instead, she advocates talking with (not at) people about what matters to them as the way to increase awareness. Whether they recognize it or not, most already do care: be it because of home, hobbies, interests, or loves, everyone has a stake in the planet’s health.

 

So, what do you like to do? Skiing? Skating? Scuba-diving? Personally, I miss Connecticut’s snowy winters. 40 years ago, Dave and I would skate the Mianus River, breezing along as far as our energy would take us before retreating inside for a well-earned hot chocolate.  While some contend that temperatures have always fluctuated, Dr. Hayhoe makes clear that if that were the case, our experience would be of the planet cooling. Extreme storms, record summer temperatures, and wildfires have become increasingly common. The planet is warming, and skating on the Mianus is but a memory.

 

Where do you live? In low-lying coastal areas, rising seas and floods will prove hazardous. If you live out west or in arid areas, drought and water shortages are already an issue. Personal safety, food production, physical comfort, and stable economies all depend on a healthy planet, and ours is ailing and angry. As has been said, there is no Planet B… and why would we want one, given the glorious one we have? 

 

Finally, what matters to you most? We humans seem to disagree on much these days, but we stand united in caring about our loved ones above all, and the future our kids and grandkids inherit depends on what we do now.

With force and hope, Dr. Hayhoe says we still have the time and ability to make choices that will effect positive change.  As climate scientist Peter Kalmus states, “We’re not fighting for a merely ‘livable’ planet. We’re fighting for a riotous, wild, gorgeous, miraculous, life-cradling planet that’s home to a society that works for everyone.” 

 

I highly recommend Saving Us, A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katharine Hayhoe.  (One Signal Publishers/Atria, 2021)