It's in these last few days of January that even the strongest among us feel ourselves to be on the edge of what used to be called nervous breakdowns, convinced that February, let alone spring, will never arrive. It's the sameness of each day that gets to me, more than the cold, the rain and the mud. I miss watching the garden growing and changing, and finding something new each day to photograph.
January promotes introspection, especially when one is shoveling horse turds, which is for me a daily task. It will probably come as no surprise to readers that my mind often turns to the subject of lifestyle changes versus coordinated and sustained political action in combating climate change, specifically the question of whether personal choices will have any effect on slowing the juggernaut that is bearing down on us. I will spare readers the tortuous and convoluted path of my thoughts as I ruminated on this question while performing daily shit removal, and provide immediate gratification in the form of an answer: No, it will not.
Without tremendous, global political pressure on governments to end support of fossil fuel extraction, find and implement alternative energy sources (not nuclear!) and divert resources toward drawdown of GHGs and ecosystem restoration, we are doomed.
Using cloth bags, recycling, and buying an electric vehicle will not save us. Does this mean we shouldn't bother changing personal habits? Quite the contrary. Transitioning to a fossil fuel free world is necessary; gradually adjusting our lifestyles as much as we can now will ease that transition.
Small acts of resistance against a system based on extraction and biosphere destruction can be empowering, and lead to bigger acts. They can also serve as examples to fellow citizens who still have their heads buried in the sand. We just need to be realistic about about what we can achieve by changing personal habits, and be aware that some acts are mainly symbolic. Trying to avoid single use plastic while living in the shale crescent provides a good lesson about the effect of consumer choices on industry, which is in this case thus far completely insignificant. While social media is awash with videos of plastic bottles clogging waterways and oceans, and articles about municipalities' attempts to ban plastic bags, huge fracked gas infrastructure projects are underway with more on the drawing table. Horizontal wells, pipelines, compressor stations, underground storage facilities, and cracker plants are being constructed or are in the works. The amount of money, resources, and humanpower being poured into these projects is almost incomprehensible, and I don't think I could grasp it were I not living here to witness it. The whole point if it is to make more plastic, and industry certainly doesn't give a fiddler's fart about your use of cloth bags. There's still money to be made.
In the face of this industrial steamrolling one must decide for oneself what personal lifestyle changes are most meaningful and efficacious. There is much disagreement and debate on the subject, but that's expected and healthy as long as we keep our actions in perspective and our eyes on the true prize, building political power to force governmental action.
Meanwhile, respect others' choices of action. Is an old tractor an outmoded, polluting beast that should be retired or a valuable tool to preserve and cherish and get as much use out of as possible? You can probably guess my view on this subject.
Come back next time for an uplifting, colorful post (I promise!) because, however much it seems impossible, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and spring is coming.
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