Brilliant. These are the concepts and the framework that we need to tackle our current situation. "There are no humans without nature, and in the Anthropocene there is no nature without the heavy thumbprint of human beings. There is truly no action that is not climate action—for better and for worse." We are definitely in "climate wars" now and many of today's refugees are climate refugees. Supposedly, the tech bros believe AI will solve the climate crisis for us. Good luck with that.
Thank you for this heads-up. Scientists have been warning about the climate crisis for so long and still---it hasn't hit home. One of the books about this that really made an impression on me was from 2007: Under a Green Sky by Peter D. Ward. And then there's always Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Signs of Rain and the rest of this trilogy. Again, I really appreciate your dedication to this issue.
Such an incredible take on this subject. Gave me a perspective and path to take instead of hopelessness and being overwhelmed by the ignoring of the issue. Can’t be ignored. The weather alone is in our consciousness every day
I'm coming at this totally as an ordinary person, and as someone who has been active at the volunteer, grass-roots level in climate and environmental organizing for the last 25 years.
Climate change is a symptom of overconsumption.
The "root-root" cause of climate change and all other forms of catastrophic environmental degradation is the outsized human ecological footprint and ecological overshoot. If one wanted to overlay a moral framework to this, the "root-root" cause of the polycrisis is human greed.
A simple framework for understanding ecological overshoot has been around since the 1970s: Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology. Very sophisticated work in ecological economics, much of it beyond me, has also been around for decades, putting considerable meat on the bones of this framework. It is still considered a fringe discipline, however, with little to no influence on policy. Since ecological overshoot eventually and inevitably leads to ecological collapse, you'd think we'd be taking all of this much more seriously.
We don't for many reasons, but I think it's primarily because we're a consumer society. Our identities and social status are shaped largely by our wealth, what we own, and how we choose to display or signal our status to others through our homes, where we live, the vehicles we drive, the clothes we wear, the restaurants we frequent, the entertainment we consume, and so on. We believe that perpetual economic growth is essential and we equate consumption with freedom. Our critiques of the Epstein and billionaire classes notwithstanding, we generally worship at the altars of capitalism, the "job creators," and the "winners," especially folks who rise rapidly from rags to riches.
On the ecological side of our consumer culture, it takes the resources of five Earths to support the lifestyle of the average American. Not Bill Gates' lifestyle, not Donald Trump's lifestyle, not Jeff Bezos' lifestyle, an ordinary person's lifestyle. I've done a lot to lower my footprint, and it still takes me about 3 Earths to live a "small but comfortable" middle class life. We're not going to navigate the predicament of ecological overshoot through personal virtue or individual actions. We need policy--national, state, and local commitments, together with international cooperation--and, ideally, we needed it to start several decades ago.
Given the dominant American worldview and the reality of ecological overshoot, I think it's even harder for the average American to grapple with this than climate change. For older people like me, it's incredibly difficult to acknowledge that we are leaving a catastrophe behind for our children and descendants to deal with and suffer through. Responding to the ecological crisis adequately would require significant, material sacrifices that would be immediately and deeply felt by almost all Americans, but especially the middle and upper classes. Substituting solar panels and wind turbines for gas-fired power plants, EVs for gasoline-powered vehicles, and organic, free-range, grass fed burgers for burgers sourced from industrial agriculture just won't cut it. We can't consume our way through over consumption.
This reality has been crashing head on with our politics for years. According to leaders from both parties, the "American way of life" is non-negotiable. Well. Ordinary people associate the "American way of Life" with our fundamental rights to build wealth and to consume goods and services with minimal governmental constraint. Since neither party is willing to "take away our freedoms" to do these things, where does that leave us?
We can't negotiate with nature. Unfortunately for us, nature bats less. To take this metaphor further, we're in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth inning. Nature's at the plate. Our backup utility infielder is on the mound because our second baseman got injured back in the fifth inning, our starters are all gassed, and the league has suspended all our relief pitchers for gambling infractions. The bases are loaded and nobody's out. Nature's got Aaron Judge at the plate, Shohei Ohtani on deck, and Bobby Witt Jr. in the hole. Good luck to us.
oh Dear ? well - you so smart ! musta went to college ? The Vast majority of "People"
just don't care !! Really - they just don't care..., and I don't blame them ! In fact i am
probably one of them ! That being said - here is why We Don't Care: Yes it is an Existential threat -
So What ? We have survived many of this type of existential threat, and have survived them all !
What ? Me Worry ? No Tks ! Just enjoy life as you find it & enough already with all the Doom & Gloom. Vote Trump in 2028 !! either theDonald Himself or Junior - Junior will be jus fine -
I have been thinking about this such a lot recently, as attention has been redirected towards other issues and crises. Not to diminish the importance of these other topics but surely climate change remains at the center of it all. I love that the author makes the point that Big Oil bought us this diabolical president. I'm not quite sure why market forces don't push industry towards clean energy if it's cheaper. Who, or what, has us so afraid? Thank you for this article that brought to me some new ways of thinking about this critical issue.
Thank you so much for this! My husband and I bought EVs in 2012 and my husband just leased a more current EV. We have the funds, and so are able to, install solar panels on our home. We recycle and compost - both, thanks to our town's programs. However, many people just can't afford to do any of these things without some kind of break. And that's the very least of what is possible if an administration goes all out on preventing worsening climate change.
Thank you for this excellent, vital post and reprinted article.
Brilliant. These are the concepts and the framework that we need to tackle our current situation. "There are no humans without nature, and in the Anthropocene there is no nature without the heavy thumbprint of human beings. There is truly no action that is not climate action—for better and for worse." We are definitely in "climate wars" now and many of today's refugees are climate refugees. Supposedly, the tech bros believe AI will solve the climate crisis for us. Good luck with that.
There's a great recent report you may have seen that exposes the self-serving AI greenwashing in the tech industry. https://beyondfossilfuels.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/AI-for-climate-claims-Report_FEB-2026_FINAL-2-16.pdf
Thank you for this heads-up. Scientists have been warning about the climate crisis for so long and still---it hasn't hit home. One of the books about this that really made an impression on me was from 2007: Under a Green Sky by Peter D. Ward. And then there's always Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Signs of Rain and the rest of this trilogy. Again, I really appreciate your dedication to this issue.
Excellent. Truly explains so much of our feelings of helplessness.
So, yes, 'Let's GO'!!
Thanks for sharing!
Such an incredible take on this subject. Gave me a perspective and path to take instead of hopelessness and being overwhelmed by the ignoring of the issue. Can’t be ignored. The weather alone is in our consciousness every day
I'm coming at this totally as an ordinary person, and as someone who has been active at the volunteer, grass-roots level in climate and environmental organizing for the last 25 years.
Climate change is a symptom of overconsumption.
The "root-root" cause of climate change and all other forms of catastrophic environmental degradation is the outsized human ecological footprint and ecological overshoot. If one wanted to overlay a moral framework to this, the "root-root" cause of the polycrisis is human greed.
A simple framework for understanding ecological overshoot has been around since the 1970s: Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology. Very sophisticated work in ecological economics, much of it beyond me, has also been around for decades, putting considerable meat on the bones of this framework. It is still considered a fringe discipline, however, with little to no influence on policy. Since ecological overshoot eventually and inevitably leads to ecological collapse, you'd think we'd be taking all of this much more seriously.
We don't for many reasons, but I think it's primarily because we're a consumer society. Our identities and social status are shaped largely by our wealth, what we own, and how we choose to display or signal our status to others through our homes, where we live, the vehicles we drive, the clothes we wear, the restaurants we frequent, the entertainment we consume, and so on. We believe that perpetual economic growth is essential and we equate consumption with freedom. Our critiques of the Epstein and billionaire classes notwithstanding, we generally worship at the altars of capitalism, the "job creators," and the "winners," especially folks who rise rapidly from rags to riches.
On the ecological side of our consumer culture, it takes the resources of five Earths to support the lifestyle of the average American. Not Bill Gates' lifestyle, not Donald Trump's lifestyle, not Jeff Bezos' lifestyle, an ordinary person's lifestyle. I've done a lot to lower my footprint, and it still takes me about 3 Earths to live a "small but comfortable" middle class life. We're not going to navigate the predicament of ecological overshoot through personal virtue or individual actions. We need policy--national, state, and local commitments, together with international cooperation--and, ideally, we needed it to start several decades ago.
Given the dominant American worldview and the reality of ecological overshoot, I think it's even harder for the average American to grapple with this than climate change. For older people like me, it's incredibly difficult to acknowledge that we are leaving a catastrophe behind for our children and descendants to deal with and suffer through. Responding to the ecological crisis adequately would require significant, material sacrifices that would be immediately and deeply felt by almost all Americans, but especially the middle and upper classes. Substituting solar panels and wind turbines for gas-fired power plants, EVs for gasoline-powered vehicles, and organic, free-range, grass fed burgers for burgers sourced from industrial agriculture just won't cut it. We can't consume our way through over consumption.
This reality has been crashing head on with our politics for years. According to leaders from both parties, the "American way of life" is non-negotiable. Well. Ordinary people associate the "American way of Life" with our fundamental rights to build wealth and to consume goods and services with minimal governmental constraint. Since neither party is willing to "take away our freedoms" to do these things, where does that leave us?
We can't negotiate with nature. Unfortunately for us, nature bats less. To take this metaphor further, we're in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth inning. Nature's at the plate. Our backup utility infielder is on the mound because our second baseman got injured back in the fifth inning, our starters are all gassed, and the league has suspended all our relief pitchers for gambling infractions. The bases are loaded and nobody's out. Nature's got Aaron Judge at the plate, Shohei Ohtani on deck, and Bobby Witt Jr. in the hole. Good luck to us.
oh Dear ? well - you so smart ! musta went to college ? The Vast majority of "People"
just don't care !! Really - they just don't care..., and I don't blame them ! In fact i am
probably one of them ! That being said - here is why We Don't Care: Yes it is an Existential threat -
So What ? We have survived many of this type of existential threat, and have survived them all !
What ? Me Worry ? No Tks ! Just enjoy life as you find it & enough already with all the Doom & Gloom. Vote Trump in 2028 !! either theDonald Himself or Junior - Junior will be jus fine -
Wait & See.... Don't Worry - Be Happy
I have been thinking about this such a lot recently, as attention has been redirected towards other issues and crises. Not to diminish the importance of these other topics but surely climate change remains at the center of it all. I love that the author makes the point that Big Oil bought us this diabolical president. I'm not quite sure why market forces don't push industry towards clean energy if it's cheaper. Who, or what, has us so afraid? Thank you for this article that brought to me some new ways of thinking about this critical issue.
Thank you so much for this! My husband and I bought EVs in 2012 and my husband just leased a more current EV. We have the funds, and so are able to, install solar panels on our home. We recycle and compost - both, thanks to our town's programs. However, many people just can't afford to do any of these things without some kind of break. And that's the very least of what is possible if an administration goes all out on preventing worsening climate change.
So comprehensive. So helpful. Should I say … hopeful? I feel less despairing and more motivated than I did 10 minutes ago.
that means a lot to me! thank you!