We are the ones we have been waiting for…
What can one person do? We are all grappling with this question. Whatever we do, time is of the essence. Turns out, each person has a role to play in this big, beautiful climate justice movement. If you have been thinking of jumping in, don’t wait any more…we need you now!
There are many ways to act. Maybe you will be the person that writes a note to a newspaper columnist and spurs them to finally take note about the climate crisis. Maybe you are the one who can explain the crisis in a compelling fashion to 10 people, who in turn each wake up 10 people to the crisis. Maybe you love social media and can talk up the urgency of the crisis, or perhaps you are someone who is interested of keeping track of our legislators up on Beacon Hill. Maybe you are a leader who can corral your Friday night crew or your reading group or some fellow students to go on a march together. Or perhaps you and a dear friend will decide that your weekly date will now include a time of writing or calling elected officials about the climate crisis. Maybe you will write the letter to the editor that gets through to hundreds of people who haven’t yet seen the climate truth. Maybe you will orchestrate some great idea or action for Western MA. So many possibilities.
Who are we?
We are concerned citizens of Western Massachusetts.
Many of us are completely new to the activist world, spurred on by the reality of climate change. Others were born into activist families and/or have made activism a priority for their whole lives. More than ever, there is a need for ALL of us to get to the point where our movement is big and strong enough to overcome inertia and the indifference to the forces wreaking havoc on our beautiful planet.
Many people have been working for years and even decades for social change, and new people are waking up and joining all the time. Every new person amplifies the existing movement with their fresh energy, connections and insights. We now have a true people’s movement speaking truth to power. Every day, there is a new crack in the wall of power and greed ruining our planet. The power of the people will not be denied… if enough people choose to exercise their personal power. We are gaining momentum, but we certainly have not achieved critical mass just yet!
One of the wonderful parts about Climate Action Now is the coming together of the generations in our work. We have many students, some of them very active with CAN or their campus climate groups. We have mothers and fathers with young children. Although they may not always come to meetings, we know they are paying attention and working when they can for their children’s lives! We have retired people, and we have people who come after work. We come together over our urgent common cause and most precious hopes. It is truly a beautiful collaboration.
Our monthly gatherings
We gather on the 4th Monday evening of each month. (See bottom of this page for dates and details.) The purpose of our gatherings is to share updates on our campaigns, to get to know and learn from one another, and to find out ways to take action.
A typical gathering starts in a big circle, with a few dozen people. We introduce ourselves, and perhaps break off into small groups for a brief discussion on some climate topic. After that, the workgroups for the month are introduced. A workgroup might get into details on a campaign, discuss ideas, make plans, etc.
No membership or dues, but plenty of opportunity for action
People give of their time and talent to work on projects as they wish. We do not have any official membership or dues. People participate in many different ways and at various levels of participation: some people come to occasional gatherings; some people come to every rally, march and hearing; and many people are driven to spend much of their free time thinking and working on climate action with the idea that we have a very small window of opportunity to stop the worst of the crisis.
All levels of participation and effort are most welcome here. Jump in and try things… many of us have done things we’ve never done before for the first time because we just have to do it! Working this all-important purpose feels good and while our task is serious, we try to enjoy and have fun with each other doing it.
Two very active groups are the Legislative Team and the Carbon Pollution Pricing group, and then there’s pipeline resistance, and public education over the urgency of the crisis, a soil and food group…and more.
We are a local 350.org.
You can sign up for our 2x/month email newsletter by clicking right here
Monthly Gathering Details:
We alternate between Northampton and Amherst on the 4th MONDAY evening of each month from 7-9 pm.
Northampton gatherings take place at the Unitarian Society of Northampton on Main St.
Amherst gatherings take place at the Unitarian Meetinghouse on North Pleasant St (downtown)
Upcoming dates for our Monthly gathering: Mon October 23 2017 (Northampton); Mon Nov 27 (Amherst)
Everyone is welcome! We would love to meet you.
To get in touch with us- email ClimateActionNowMass@gmail.com