As a mother and teacher, I鈥檝e had a front-row seat to observe evidence of among teen girls in this country. I鈥檝e taught environmental education at Warren Wilson College for more than two decades, but I鈥檓 not always sure how to support my students鈥攐r my 23 and 17-year old daughters鈥攚hen faced with the realities of our climate crisis and the political obstacles to action, such as the recent approval of the Willow project聽for oil extraction on public lands in Alaska.
I鈥檝e seen firsthand what author and researcher聽聽at Stanford University calls聽 a phrase she coined to describe those confronted with a climate emergency they didn鈥檛 create, compounded by structural obstacles like racism and gender inequality. Yet Wray also calls for stories and community as a path toward purpose in real uncertainty.
So I decided to do something: I spent a year researching fifty women鈥攐ne from each state in the country鈥攚ho are taking action for climate justice. I talked to poets, scientists, farmers, teachers, community organizers and more. The stories became my book聽. What I found was that women are creating a road map through climate uncertainty with collaborative action toward a healthy, vibrant world for us all. This is a story I want my students and children to hear.
Worldwide, women and girls are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis,聽comprising . At its heart, climate justice is about access to a healthy environment for聽all.听础 showed the mental health impacts, including PTSD, anxiety and depression, from experiencing extreme weather events. Yet we also know that talking about climate may be one of the most effective things we can do to engage our neighbors, family, and friends around shared values, according to climate scientist
It turns out the聽 are worried about the climate, but most (63%) rarely or never discuss it with their family and friends. However, my own neighbors and friends do talk about dramatic聽weather events like droughts and floods linked聽to the聽climate crisis, as well as the first winter in our memory in these mountains without any snow.聽The聽聽shows that talking about climate also reassures people they are not alone. The women I interviewed can attest to the power of imagining possibility together.
For example, filmmaker Dayna Reggero traveled to eight states to document conversations about climate and community: mothers fighting a natural gas blowout in California, sea level rise in Florida, and coal ash ponds in North Carolina. Through her , she worked with 聽to share the narrative of women from Stokes County, North Carolina鈥擝lack and white together鈥攚ho fought fracking and the harmful effects of coal ash ponds on the health of their community.
鈥淭hese mothers all care about children, their homes, and their community,鈥 Reggero told me. 鈥淚t gives them a connection and a common fight, sometimes even a common enemy.鈥
Likewise, I talked to Jacqui Patterson who worked with the 2,200 NAACP chapters across the country to tailor climate justice programs to regional needs, such as training people who鈥檝e been incarcerated to work in the solar industry. She鈥檚 started the , a resource hub for building Black frontline leadership for climate justice.
鈥淭he weight of this work is amplified by the emotional pull of deeply caring for the people with whom I鈥檓 working, as they are my brothers and sisters,鈥 she said.
If worrying alone made me overwhelmed, my conversations with these women made me feel a part of something larger than myself. Fifth-generation Montanan Grace Gibson-Snyder聽spoke about the intense smoke from wildfires in Missoula, as well as her role as one of 16 plaintiffs in the youth climate lawsuit 鈥Held v. State of Montana鈥攁sserting the state violated their right to a clean and healthful environment. With Indigenous leader Bernadette Demientieff from Alaska, I heard how pressure on banks to divest from funding the fossil fuel industry could protect sacred lands and water.
In each case, I saw how the relationships between people and places created the power to imagine and act. As marine biologist聽Ayana Elizabeth Johnson said: 鈥淭o me, it鈥檚 not a matter of joy or sadness or optimism or pessimism. It鈥檚 just a moral duty to be a part of the solution.鈥 The title of her new book鈥?鈥攑oses a question my students don鈥檛 often hear from the media. In response to the Willow project, she also tweeted: 鈥淭his fight is not over. See you in courts @potus.鈥
My environmental studies department in the Blue Ridge mountains uses the phrase 鈥減ractical idealists鈥 to describe how we want students to collaborate in this uncertain world, full of possibility. Of course, the fossil fuel industry is betting we the people won鈥檛 succeed, but I watch my students growing food, leading field trips for local schools, nurturing friendships from the ground up. And from these women鈥檚 stories, I see how working with others can sustain us with momentum, rather than paralyze us with anxiety. The question isn鈥檛 what can I do to confront the climate crisis, but with whom can I join together鈥攔ight here and right now.