I can’t help but keep thinking about how much different my life was a year ago as one of the only named storms of this hurricane season begins to form in the Atlantic right now. Exactly a year to the day ago, I was sweating my ass off making sandwiches with World Central Kitchen before switching to their plating team where I worked some of the hardest days I’ve ever experienced. Throughout those weeks and leading into the time I spent helping with recovery efforts with the likes of SBP and Louisiana Just Recovery Network, every single one of the people around me gave me strength through their commitment to this fight.
Each one of us had been touched by climate-worsened disaster, either owing to the latest storm or having experienced other life-threatening crises like wildfires and flooding. Something I’ve found since I hit the ground running at Daily Kos is that some of the most passionate folks fighting climate change in the progressive space, too, have been the most heavily impacted. I wish for no one to go through such tragedy, but knowing that climate change affects us all is crucial in battling it. A few weeks ago at Netroots, I had the pleasure of linking up with those in the movement, both community members and advocates from all walks of life. And I can safely say I’ve found what feels like home.
It’s folks like RL Miller with Climate Hawks Vote and the wonderful Lefty Coaster who made my time at Netroots life-changing. I’ve been on the fence about staying in journalism for a while because honestly, sometimes it feels like writing about an issue isn’t enough. I tend to doubt what I’m doing because I spent so much time going out and “doing the work” with mucking and gutting, rebuilding, and even just bagging sandwiches. But many hands make light work and no role should be dismissed, for we can all make an impact in this space.
I was reinvigorated at Netroots from hearing about the major advancements in California putting solar on the map, in panels addressing the disinformation that makes it that much harder to build the coalitions we need to equitably bring forth a renewable-powered world. And I saw that there is hope even in the political process and that candidates can and should run on the most pressing issue of our lifetime. I may still one day make the leap to working on wind turbines and personally taking this fight to different heights for myself. (Pun absolutely intended; wind turbines are hundreds of feet tall, yet when I did stage work, I ended up on catwalks in the Superdome well exceeding that!) For now, I’m more than content sharing the successes, the battles, and the awe-inspiring innovations that I firmly believe will make the world a better place.
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