Getting Ready: 'Rethinking Climate Action' to usher change by working together

In July 1846, Henry David Thoreau spent a night in jail because he refused to pay a delinquent poll tax, protesting America’s involvement in the Mexican war and the practice of slavery that still existed, both of which he considered unjust. As the story goes, Ralph Waldo Emerson visited Thoreau in jail and asked, “Henry, what are you doing in there?” to which Thoreau replied, “The question is, Waldo, what are you doing out there?”

Acts of conscience and civil disobedience are not new. Thoreau was reminding us that if we do not act on our discernment of right from wrong, we will eventually lose the capacity to make the distinction.

I found myself in such a situation nearly ten years ago when an enormous pipeline was under construction through a densely populated neighborhood where I served as minister of the Theodore Parker Unitarian Universalist Church in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. The Metering and Regulating Station was being built directly across the street from an actively blasting quarry. The “death zone” extended a half-mile radius from the Station, indicating the neighborhoods that would and will be destroyed should an accident occur.

We marched, we wrote letters, we called politicians, and we stood in traffic for hours with signs of resistance. We gathered in lay and interfaith groups, and ultimately, many of us decided to block construction and be arrested to prevent a 750 pounds per-square-inch pipeline of fracked gas from coming into our community. We were not successful, but we knew we were on the right side of this issue. (Consider that the average pressure of a pipeline bringing gas into a home is about ¼ pound per square inch.)

Much of our learning and engagement was informed by the larger climate change movement, including the activist and organizer of 350.org, Bill McKibben.

McKibben is a long-time environmentalist, author, and journalist who has written prolifically on the impact of global warming. 350.org drew its name from climate scientist James E. Hansen's contention earlier that winter that any atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) above 350 parts per million was unsafe.

The organization works on grassroots campaigns across the globe. They leverage people power — individuals working together in pursuit of a common goal — to dismantle the influence and infrastructure of the fossil fuel industry and to power up clean systems rooted in justice.

McKibben will speak at a virtual program called “Rethinking Climate Action” on Feb. 28, from 7 to 8 p.m. The event is co-sponsored by York Ready for Climate Action, the York Land Trust and the York Public Library.

Joining Bill will be members of the Maine chapter of Third Act, a nationwide group he founded that organizes people over 60 for action on climate and justice. Also presenting will be Anna Siegel from Maine Youth for Climate Justice, to talk about the ways Maine youth are engaging in local and national activism.

Not all activists choose to risk arrest. There is much to be accomplished by working together on behalf of the things we believe in, like a clean and safe planet for generations to come, and many ways to be engaged. We hope you’ll go to the York Public Library website and register to join us for the McKibben event. We also hope those of us over 60 will consider joining Third Act Maine and get involved!

Rev. Bancroft volunteers with York Ready for Climate Action. YRCA is a grassroots citizens’ organization dedicated to increasing awareness of the causes and effects of climate change and advancing environmentally friendly and inclusive policies and behaviors. Please see yorkreadyforclimateaction.org or info@yorkreadyforclimateaction.org. Information about EcoHOMES is on the same site.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Getting Ready: 'Rethinking Climate Action' to usher change