Trump Vs. Climate Truth & Solidarity

My heart aches, but it's not broken. My head is weary, but still flickers with hope and inspiration for co-creating what happens next. To all my friends and colleagues feeling the weight of uncertainty and devastation today, I see you and I feel you. It's important to honor and process our pain. And then, after we've cleared away the haze—because there's no time left to be wasted—get organized and unite with so much vigor that we'll have to come up with a new word for united.

While Donald Trump can deny the climate crisis, he can't deny the climate action community as a global movement. Climate tech founders and teams will keep innovating, climate scientists will continue researching and writing, grassroots activists will persist in organizing and raising their voices, Indigenous nations will push on to get "land back," carbon markets will keep operating, renewable energy projects will continue being deveoped, and we'll all keep striving to build a better world and #protectwhatwelove.

The Truth

That's why we need a stronger narrative—one that imbues relatablity and solidarity across our many, siloed groups and initiatives. We need our greatest leaders across business sectors, policy, civil society, and media to come together for more then one to two weeks a year at COP and Davos. While forward thinking and brilliant climate action leaders and innovators never cease to inspire —as a movement we need to create more solidarity. We also need to listen closely to what Trump supporters' say their main priorities are, and we need to meet them there. Climate change is impacting every aspect of our lives. Even people who don't believe the science of climate have climate stories. Let's find out what they are.

Let's move forward with solidarity, grace, and unwavering, unapologetic truth.

Trump says he wants "clean air and clean water," but we know the truth. We know that if he pulls the United States out of the Paris Agreement this time, his claim about wanting a healthier planet and atmosphere is not the message he'll be sending to the world. Last time Trump was in power his administration rolled back more than 100 environmental rules, which were estimated to significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade and lead to thousands of extra deaths from poor air quality each year, according to the New York Times. Here's the list. In additon to re-electing Trump, the US just gave Republicans control of the Senate, which puts electric vehicles and clean energy funding in jeopardy, while promoting support for the fossil fuel industry.

This is the only the surface of what's at stake. But I promise you, all our efforts have not been done in vain. While Trump will undoubtedly establish plans to maximize oil and gas production, President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which provided a decade of subsidies for clean energy projects "would be near-impossible to repeal," due to support from Republican states, according to experts interviewed by Reuters.

And let's not forget that support for climate justice is currently at an all-time high, with a growing number of people recognizing the need to address the disproportionate impacts of climate change on marginalized communities and advocating for policies that promote equity in climate action.

We are not going back. While Vice President Kamala Harris didn't come out of this presidential race victoriously, her campaign's rally cry, "We are not going back," can still be ours. The truth is that while there's more work to be done, we've come too far to go back. So let's move foward in solidarity and determine what comes next—together.