4 minute read
Your Ecological House™—
War, Anti-War and Climate Action
by Philip Wenz
— Bill McKibben
Wars have aftermaths. These can be negative, as when geopolitical miscalculations after WWI led directly to WWII. Or, they can be positive, such as the formation of the United Nations and the implementation of the Marshall Plan after WWII.
Similarly, the fallout from the current war in Ukraine—assuming that fallout is not radioactive, denoting the end of civilization—can be largely negative, resulting in deep global recession, widespread famine, political instability and the failure to address the climate crisis. Or, the war’s consequences can be largely positive, leading to a healthier international order that ensures meaningful cooperation on climate change.
Which direction will things take? That’s up to us.
By “us,” I mean humanity as a whole, of course, but I also mean specific segments of society, namely its youth and its growing ranks of retirees.
I’ve written before about what I call Gen–R—today’s youth, ages five to 25, who will be tasked with the R-estoration of the planet when they take over the reins of power in the 2040s and ‘50s. My assumption, based on the recent pace of climate-mitigation efforts and on population/consumption trends, was that far too little would be done to address the global environmental crisis in the next couple of decades, and Gen–R would be stuck with trying to restore a largely degraded biosphere.
Two recent developments, however, might change this gloomy projection. One was the initiation by climate activist Bill McKibben and social-change organizer Akaya Winwood of a project called “Third Act.” The other, counterintuitively, is the war in Ukraine. Combined, these events could represent a tipping point in the global struggle to save the planet in the nick of time.
Third Act (see thirdact.org) aims to involve people of the “Boomer” generation in the climate movement in the same way that young people in 19-year-old Greta’s Thunberg’s generation are involved—as activists. Although today’s youngsters often disparage the Boomers as sold-out consumers who are more concerned with their creature comforts than the fate of the planet—and therefore a big part of the problem—the 1960s generation’s “first act” was protesting for civil rights and against the Vietnam war.
That generation went on to become the wealthiest and most influential in the country’s history—its “second act.” Even today, Boomers run much of the country; witness the leadership of Congress and many of today’s influential billionaires.
But now it’s quite possible to leverage the mostly retired Boomers’ independence from the workaday world and enlist them as highly effective climate activists who influence politicians, exert financial pressure, gather and publish accurate information about environmental issues and brainstorm creative solutions.
Where does the Ukrainian war enter the picture? Russia’s action has exposed the relationship between fossil-fuel-dominated and -dependent economies and war. Any post-war push for a new international order could be based on the rejection of fossil fuels, both because of their political and climate effects.
A good sign is Western Europe’s sudden acceleration of its program to decarbonize its energy sector. This process that will take a few years to complete, of course, but the fact that it is now Europe’s most urgent project—other than directly helping Ukraine fight Russia—means that it is finally being given the priority that all fossil-economy divestments require.
If the youth movement and the Boomers can combine their efforts and produce not only protests against but solutions for the climate crisis, they will become a powerful political force indeed. Perhaps, as part of their third act, the Boomers can pass along a song from their youth to today’s youth—The times they are a’changin’ at our ecological house.
© Philip S. Wenz, 2022. Philip S. Wenz is an environmental researcher and writer living in Monmouth, Oregon. Visit his blog at firebirdjournal.com.
