Citizens' Climate Lobby: Profiles in activism

You’ve probably heard reports or seen the pictures — tomato soup splattered over Van Gough’s Sunflowers painting and twenty-something climate protesters glued to the wall.

What should we think of these media-savvy young activists? Are they legitimate? Will these tactics lead to change?

Having read the UN’s climate reports, I understand their frustration. The global community needs to rapidly reduce its emission of greenhouse gasses.

Young, internationally prominent climate activist, Greta Thunberg uses the image of a house on fire to describe the urgency. It’s too late to apply for grants to study fire suppression. We need to act now.

At Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL), we define the challenge as building the political will for a livable world. At its best, politics is a process: acknowledge a problem, gather data, agree on a solution, and everybody chips in.

Climate change is a real problem. But we aren’t going to solve it without bipartisan agreement.

At CCL, we are activists — minus the glue and tomato soup. We know that unlike-minded persons can create good public policy if their deliberations include trust. And trust? Well, that comes from genuinely knowing who you’re dealing with. So, let me introduce you to someone who is an activist in her own way, CCL member Sylvia Castillo:

Sylvia, please share a little bit about your background.

I grew up in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. I remember it as being like a tropical paradise. We had a very cohesive family and I played outside all the time.

My world was full of wonder — lizards, horned toads, date palms, pomegranates, citrus trees, and mesquite. People had gardens. They grew herbs and knew about plant-based medicines. We ate fruit right off the tamarind trees.

What brought you to Michigan?

After high school I got married, started a family and we moved to Michigan. My husband got his college degree here. We had family near Fennville who helped us with the transition.

Oh, those Michigan winters! I missed Texas. We still went back twice a year for vacations. Later on, my husband’s employment brought us back to Texas.

So, why did you return to Michigan?

I was a single mom and had to decide where to raise my girls. I wanted a place with strong community values—the kind that I remembered from Michigan; so, I moved here. In time I even learned to like winter.

What keeps you busy these days?

After a career in business and marketing, I’m retired now; but that just means more time to do other things I love. One of which is walking. I average a thousand miles per year. You might see me out there with my labradoodle.

My real passion now is volunteer work for Mediation Services of Holland. Many families, caught in difficult transitions, need guided help. If we can resolve disputes before they get worse it helps to keep peace in the community.

What brought you to CCL?

I was part of a meditation group and some of those people invited me. I didn’t know a lot about environmental science but I knew nature was important.

I knew from my travels that nature was changing. Michigan winters aren’t the same. And the plants and gardens I knew in Texas are disappearing. After the hurricane even Houston, where I’ve spent several winters, isn’t the same.

The monthly chapter meetings give me access to well-informed people and I like to learn as much as I can. And CCL validates the way I raised my girls. I taught them to recycle and to take care of the world around them.

What do you see as your contribution to CCL?

I’m proud of my heritage — Spanish, Portuguese and Indigenous. We have a way of seeing that embraces the natural world.

Our way of seeing even translates to common structures. The teepee, for instance, is a circle which reflects the circular nature of life. European buildings are square and communicate a fortress mentality in a hostile world.

Any final thoughts?

I care deeply about the children. They learn from watching us. They can learn either to do right or wrong. I know that I can’t do everything; but everyone has something to offer.

Your profile may be entirely different. But meeting the climate challenge still needs your active participation. You can join us or just learn more about CCL at citizensclimatelobby.org.

— Sylvia Castillo and Peter Boogaart are members of the Holland chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Citizens' Climate Lobby: Profiles in activism