But We Need To Be Very Clear:

Our Problem Is That The Climate Crisis Hatched In Our Laps At A Moment In History When Political And Social Conditions Were Uniquely Hostile To A Problem Of This Nature And Magnitude-that Moment Being The Tail End Of The Go-go '80s, The Blastoff Point For The Crusade To Spread Deregulated Capitalism Around The World. Climate Change Is A Collective Problem Demanding Collective Action The Likes Of Which Humanity Has Never Actually Accomplished. Yet It Entered Mainstream Consciousness In The Midst Of An Ideological War Being Waged On The Very Idea Of The Collective Sphere.

Politics Hates A Vacuum. If It Isn't Filled With Hope, Someone Will Fill It With Fear.

And Most Of All, It Means Continually Drawing Connections Among These Seemingly Disparate Struggles—asserting, For Instance, That The Logic That Would Cut Pensions, Food Stamps, And Health Care Before Increasing Taxes On The Rich Is The Same Logic That Would Blast The Bedrock Of The Earth To Get The Last Vapors Of Gas And The Last Drops Of Oil Before Making The Shift To Renewable Energy.

Democracy Is Not Just The Right To Vote, It Is The Right To Live In Dignity.

I Am Convinced That Climate Change Represents A Historic Opportunity On An Even Greater Scale.