By Kris Abrams, Director of Communications
Global Greengrants has been raising awareness and money for climate justice projects for years. But this is the first time we’ve experienced first-hand, on our own turf, what it is like to be at ground zero of a sudden climate disaster.
Yes, climate disaster. While scientists are debating how much climate change played a role in creating so much rainfall, it is clear that the impact of the rain was exacerbated by severe droughts, trees killed by the pine beetle epidemic, and unprecedented wildfires.
So what can we say now that we’ve lived through such a disaster ourselves? Here is my thought: having been born and raised in the U.S., having consumed an incalculable amount of advertising encouraging me to meet my every desire and avoid every discomfort, having lived in carefully climate-controlled abodes, relaxed in perfectly manicured parks, eaten foods whether they are in season not, flown thousands of miles through the air – all of this creates an illusion of control. But watching sheets of rain turning into rivers in the streets, waiting to see whether the water will reach your house, realizing you can do nothing, you can’t stop the rain – this rips the illusion away. You realize: We are not in control.
In that way, climate change is a great equalizer. Even people in privileged Boulder, Colorado can be flooded. Just like people in New York who faced Sandy’s wrath last year. The U.S. military has for the most part insulated us from wars on our own turf, but they can’t keep climate change at bay.
And yet, in another sense, climate change represents one of the greatest injustices the world has ever seen. People are impacted so differently depending on their financial resources, their immigration status, their gender and race, their country’s infrastructure, environmental policies, and wealth. For example, 8 people died in the unprecedented Boulder floods a few days ago. But in India in June, over 5,000 people died from unprecedented floods. And in Nigeria last year, flooding killed hundreds and displaced over 2 million people.
And then there’s the fact that the people who are suffering the most from climate change are not the people who are causing it. It is not the emissions of African nations, nor the energy consumption of Indian villagers, that must be curtailed in order to save the world as we know it. It is U.S. policy, U.S. behaviors. And, we can support climate initiatives led by the people who are so unjustly impacted.
This is why Global Greengrants has prioritized climate justice grantmaking. We believe we must do everything we can, with the resources we have, both to turn climate change around, and to support the people who are most impacted by it to adapt and survive. To learn more about our climate-related work, click here. To support our climate justice program, click here.