23 Jan Individual action and supporting each other, more important now than ever
Though we were all warned that on the day of his swearing-in, the 47th President of the United States of America would shatter the country’s climate policies aimed at securing a safe planet and “drill baby drill”, when it actually happened, it was, for many of us, devastating and demoralizing. Some people cried. Some went numb.
“I will declare a national energy emergency… we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have: the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we are going to use it. We’re going to use it.” – Trump’s inaugural speech.
Hours later, after saying he would destroy the Green New Deal, he issued an executive order withdrawing our country from the Paris Agreements. And the next day he issued nine more executive orders which will severely limit our ability to address climate change.
How do we respond to this changing environment?
The question facing all of us in our little hamlet by the sea who want to do our part in reducing fossil fuels and preserving our home, is how to sustain our psyches and spirits in the face of this new national policy? Shall we crawl under the bed and put our fingers in our ears? Should we come out with our hands raised over our heads and surrender? Or should we renew our efforts and speak out, fight harder, care more, love more?
In the face of this massive shift, FreeportCAN is digging deeper, renewing our aspirations to be an organization which embraces and supports the work of speaking, fighting, caring, loving.
We believe that we can be models for our children, who will be very confused and frightened to learn our country has given up on their future.
We believe that it enhances our own personal well-being to work in connection with other members of the community to live in balance with nature.
We believe that when something we love is threatened, we have the capacity to reach deep inside ourselves and take actions, not because we have weighed the chances of success, but because love calls us to those actions.
We believe in the law of unintended consequences: that change happens in ways that can’t be predicted.
We believe that there are millions of people in our country and in the world who will not give up on efforts to reduce carbon, and we want to be part of that movement.
Working towards these aspirations, we have a busy year ahead of us, and we hope that you, reader, will be motivated to join with us in this work and not endure this year alone.
Remember, there are everyday actions you can take this moment
- Focus on eating plant-based and locally, while avoiding industrialized beef, chicken, and seafood, all of which pollute the soil, air, and water. Local seafoods like oysters and monkfish are great alternatives.
- Shop resale for fashion! We have great stores in town. The Thrift Shop at Freeport Community Services, the ReStyle Boutique on Route 1, Kargos, Sweet Repeats, and Mothertree in town.
- Ride the bus. Fly less. Carpool.
- Keep a reusable coffee cup in your car and use it when you get coffee.
- Plan a rewilding garden now to replace part of your lawn when spring comes.
- Shop for local produce in the winter farmer’s market at the Freeport Grange on Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 6.
- Keep stuff in use longer and buy less by repairing, recycling and buying resale through our Freeport Area Green Guide.
- Find more actions to take in our EcoHomes monthly postings.