Climate Action 100 – Celebrate Success and Express Gratitude

Education and Climate Information

The Frog will explore The Climate Action Handbook: A Visual Guide to 100 Climate Solutions by Heidi Roop in the first 100 days of 2024

This is another chapter that should motivate you to buy Heidi’s book. I cannot do justice to her thoughtful, well written expressions of gratitude, celebration, and resolve.

Here I am at the end of my first 100 days. Tomorrow will be a time for a pause to collect my thoughts on what is next for me in this journey of climate action. But today is reserved for reflection on expressing gratitude to those taking action, celebrating their successes, and for adopting an attitude of positive encouragement for all that are joining and sustaining the fight for progress in the face of climate change.

Way back in Day 0, I mentioned that I know the author of the book I committed 100 days of mindshare to explore and highlight. I first met Heidi Roop when I joined the committee that selects the Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP) Awards, which “celebrate exceptional achievements in leadership, education, research, policies, and practices” for groups and individuals working to implement climate adaptation strategies in Minnesota.

The MCAP is a group of focused, dedicated, deeply passionate professionals committed to helping Minnesota residents adapt equitably to the climate as it changes. They recognize the need to celebrate all those that do this work – hence the MCAP Awards. As a member of the committee, it is inspiring to read nominations of individuals and groups who are working to make a difference everyday to make sure climate change will impact all of us a little less.

We know that celebrating success and showcasing the actions and leadership of our peers can help to accelerate adaptation across Minnesota, and beyond. 

Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership

The award nominees and winners are not social media savvy activists or best-selling authors or Ted-talking experts. These are real people who look around, see what has to be done, and get to work. People like Meredith Cornett and groups like the South Washington Watershed District, both recent MCAP Award winners (which would be two of my favorites, if I was allowed favorites as a committee member).

Who wakes up and decides to take action in the face of an existential threat? There are many that are making it their profession, perhaps even their vocation. Throughout these 100 days, I have repeatedly argued that we all can take action and work to convince others to take action in turn. And we also have to make our voices heard – scream if you must – to the institutions that have the real power to drive the massive response we need to limit warming – governments, corporations, billionaires.

But everyday more people are making the decisions to take focused, decisive action. And many of them are early career professionals who know they need to make a difference before it is too late. But like any generation that rises to a crisis, it will take a toll on the committed individuals, and they (if not you) will require support from all of us.

Even if you are not deciding to take climate action on as a vocation, the little actions you take require energy, industry, and resolve. And even those taking the little daily actions “may be experiencing loss, anxiety, or feeling totally overwhelmed”. Your decision to take action may expose you to negativity, cynicism, and ultimately cause you doubt, confusion, and maybe even despair. Everyone will have to find the motivation within themselves, but sustainable personal power comes with knowing that that there are kindred spirits that will join with you, no matter what you decide to do.

Decide to take a little step of gratitude. Send a note of thanks to someone making a difference. Forget Greta Thunberg or Michael Mann or Katharine Hayhoe of other visible climate leaders. Find the real people and amplify their actions and empower them by recognizing their work and thanking them for doing it. Do it by yourself of organize a collective effort of gratitude. Maybe consider starting an award program to acknowledge your local climate leadership.

Who is doing work you admire? Call them. Who is the person that is setting up the food scraps collection site in your county? Write them a letter telling them how important their work is. Know a local farmer with sustainable agricultural practices? Get the word out and visit them at the farmer’s market.

And yes, you have to make sure your voice is heard at all levels of the government – starting, of course, with your home town. And yes, you have to vote. And yes, you may have to do some, any, or all of the other 99 actions we have explored – the myriad little actions that need to be taken by individuals and amplified by groups and within communities.

But make sure you recognize and celebrate your own actions, which hopefully come from a place of strength. And consider stretching just a little to make your voice heard. As Heidi puts it, “something you care about is at risk from climate change”.

I know I did the book list in the last post, but I wanted to finish my 100 days with what I consider to be the most important one of all. Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in Challenging Times by Paul Rogat Loeb is a masterful exposition on how to overcome the real barriers to action – our personal feelings of powerlessness and cynicism. “The reward of our action, we learn, is nothing less than a sense of connection and purpose not found in a purely personal life”. If you want to read one book to find your voice and your personal path to action, read this one.

Howard Creel

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Email: rescuethatfrog@gmail.com