The suggestions below can get you re-focused on ways you can fight the climate crisis! These featured actions are brought to you by the Climate Action Group of the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence and are now also circulated at the Haydenville Congregational Church, the Co-op Power newsletter, and on the website of Climate Action Now, where an archive of past monthly actions is also available.
Personal: Get your heating system cleaned and inspected. If you heat with wood, reduce pollution by burning hot fires rather than smoldering ones all night long. Make sure your wood is well seasoned and dry, and don’t burn conifers such as pine and hemlock. Never burn pressure treated or painted wood.
Community: When you’re with family or friends over Thanksgiving, bring up the topic of climate change. Focus on areas where you can find common ground—“that a warmer climate is not just an environmental issue, but something with profound cultural implications for everybody”1. Try framing it in terms of “what climate change means to them, and how they think society should respond to it”2
State/National/Global: After watching the video below about a statewide carbon tax, share the video with friends and write to your state legislators to express your support for this idea which promises to reduce carbon emissions while simultaneously helping the economy. You can find your rep and senator here: https://malegislature.gov/People/Search
Inform yourself: Watch this 5 minute video about the idea of a carbon tax in Massachusetts. http://www.climate-xchange.org/
1 http://www.salon.com/2013/07/30/how_to_debate_a_climate_change_skeptic_partner
2 http://talkingclimate.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/COIN-A-new-conversation-with-the-centre-right-about-climate-change.pdf
