Russ Vernon-Jones

love, justice, and climate change … I know you can make a difference.

Collective action

Blog FEATURED 

Tips for Stepping Up Our Action on Climate Change

russvj 5 Comments , ,

We continue to make slow progress on climate change in the United States. More of the population is concerned about the situation, more political leaders are advocating action, and a few businesses are reducing their carbon footprints. But slow progress is not what we need in the climate emergency we are facing. Only dramatic acceleration of our action on climate will give us any chance of avoiding global catastrophe.

With the failure of the Congress to pass the Build Back Better bill and with big businesses mostly trying to improve their PR campaigns instead of actually cutting emissions, it is clear that neither government nor business on their own can be relied on to solve this crisis. Only a very large people’s movement demanding bold action has any chance of accelerating action sufficiently.

We have a good climate movement in the U.S. with bold solutions, but it needs far more people actively engaged. I propose that most of us could be more engaged, and all of us could be doing more to get other people join in taking action.

Read more
Blog FEATURED 

An Arrest While Protesting Climate Inaction … and GMI

russvj 5 Comments , ,

Last Wednesday I was arrested in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. while participating in a “People vs. Fossil Fuels” protest action. We are demanding that President Biden keep promises he made during the presidential campaign and use his executive power to 1) end federal support for fossil fuel projects, 2) declare a national climate emergency, 3) speed the end of the fossil fuel era, and 4) launch a just, renewable energy revolution.

We engaged in non-violent, intentional civil disobedience to …

Read more
Blog FEATURED 

Local Climate Action Drives the Movement Forward

russvj 1 Comment ,

On a number of occasions, I’ve encouraged you who read my blog to join a local climate organization and get involved in some project with them. A problem as large and systemic as the climate crisis is not going to be solved by individuals acting alone. There is power in numbers.

I thought you might be interested to know what my experience has been in getting involved with a local climate organization, and also to learn how one small organization has made a difference and contributed to the larger climate movement.

Read more
Blog FEATURED 

The Only Path to Climate Success?

russvj 2 Comments , , ,

Good news abounds on the climate front. More solar and wind power is being installed all over the world. The international financial industry is slowly but surely withdrawing support for fossil fuel projects. The President of the U.S. is aiming for net-zero carbon emissions from the electric grid by 2035 and is moving legislation forward to support climate action.

Yet the overall picture with our climate is still quite dire and getting worse.

Seven things you can do to make a difference.

Read more
Blog FEATURED 

A Conversation with Isioma

russvj 0 Comments , ,

Last week, through the wonders of Zoom, I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Isioma, a Black woman in Lagos, Nigeria. She told me that the rains that traditionally fall reliably at this time of year in her country are not falling and that disaster looms for farmers and cattle herders. She said that because of drought many grazing lands have been exhausted. Conflicts are arising as herders seeking dwindling reserves of pasture clash with farmers and each other. She shared her sadness that so many Nigerians have been made homeless by the effects climate change. She called them “refugees within their own country.”

I’ve read about these things in news reports, but it was a new experience for me to be sitting in comfort in my home in the United States developing a friendship with this woman, while she was in Nigeria experiencing climate disaster firsthand. I began to think about the fact that my country, the United States, has played a big role in causing the suffering being experienced around her. Cumulatively the U.S. has emitted more climate-change-causing greenhouse gases than any other nation.

Just as I was pondering the responsibility of the U.S., she said to me, “I don’t think we can stop climate change without doing something about racism. The wealthy white nations don’t care what happens to us. It’s racism that makes them not care.” Even though I’ve made similar statements myself, it cut right to my core to hear it directly from her. I’m still shaken by it.

Read more
Blog FEATURED 

Plastics – Another Front in the Campaign to Save Our Climate and Health

russvj 3 Comments

Globally, we produce about 310 million tons of plastic each year, about half of which is single use items such as shopping bags, plates, cups, straws, and packaging. Total production is expected to go up to somewhere between 750 million tons to a billion tons per year by 2050, unless big changes occur.

Plastic is made from fossil fuels. Greenhouse gasses are emitted at every stage of its lifecycle. The emissions begin with methane that’s emitted in the extraction of fracked oil and gas and continue …

Read more
Blog FEATURED 

Celebration, Vigilance, and a New Burst of Energy

russvj 3 Comments , ,

We have a President-elect! We have a President-elect who has named four major priorities for his incoming administration: climate change, racial justice, jobs and economic recovery, and COVID-19. We have a Vice President-elect who is a woman of color — a Vice President-elect who co-sponsored the Green New Deal resolution in the U.S. Senate. It’s time to celebrate!

I’m well aware that Trump is refusing to concede, fighting to stay in office, and making moves that are damaging to both our democracy and the incoming Biden-Harris administration. I know not having taken the Senate (yet?) is a major obstacle to progress on all key issues. I’m as upset as you likely are that over 70 million people voted for the lying, climate-destroying, abuser of women, pandemic-exacerbating, white supremacist Donald Trump. I’m clear that Joe Biden’s proposals are not as bold as we need.

Nevertheless, we get to celebrate. We can’t know how messy things will get, and we must remain vigilant, but I think it is most likely that we will get Joe Biden and Kamala Harris into office.

Read more
Blog FEATURED 

How to Defeat an Attempted Coup

russvj 0 Comments

We can’t know ahead of time what will happen on Election Day or what will happen in the weeks following. I hope that Biden wins with such a landslide that Trump and his supporters see that they have no choice but to accept the results. However we do need to be prepared for the possibility that Trump meant it when he said he would only accept the results if he wins. If he prevents the votes from being counted or tries to stay in office after losing the election, that’s a coup, an illegal power-grab.

If that happens, everyone who cares about justice, democracy, racial justice and climate change must participate fully in an outpouring of opposition. None of us can “wait and see”. All of us must act.

Read more
Blog FEATURED 

Call It a Coup

russvj 13 Comments

As terrible as the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was, it made one thing perfectly clear. Donald Trump has no intention of conceding the election or yielding power, even if he loses. He explicitly said that the mail-in ballots will make the election fraudulent and refused to agree either to count all the votes or to accept the outcome of the election.

He clearly plans to do everything possible to see that the mail-in ballots are not counted, including taking it to the Supreme Court where he expects to have a solid partisan majority. (It remains to be seen how much he may also use armed forces to intimidate voters on Election Day or to seize mail-in ballots before they are counted on the pretext of safeguarding evidence of fraud.)

Read more
Blog 

“Eco-Anxiety” and Acting Locally

russvj 3 Comments ,

I learned this week that “eco-anxiety” is the new term for many people’s reactions to the climate crisis. Experts are saying this is not an illness or disorder, but rather a normal, healthy response to the news that we have less than 11 years to make big changes worldwide, if we are to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change. Healthy or not, what do we do about the “eco-anxiety” — the fear, hopelessness, dread, and despair — we feel?

There are two key constructive remedies…

Read more