All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis

Patterson’s essay recalls visiting her father’s homeland—Jamaica—as a child. Alongside the fond memories are memories of white tourists taking photos of her and her brother as they danced to reggae on the beach. This was one of her first experiences of subtle racism.

In college, she began to explore revolutionary ideas. She joined the Peace Corps, which brought her back to Jamaica. Living there as an adult, she began to notice that the effects of colonialism were still very apparent. One community, Harbour View, was greatly affected by pollution from a cement plant. Industrial waste had contaminated the water supply. This was the first time she noticed the clear intersection of injustice and the environment. Out of this realization, she helped to start the Community Environmental Resource Center, which addressed climate change’s impact on communities. Jamaica, for example, has “social vulnerabilities heaped on top of environmental vulnerabilities” (195); along with high murder rates, poverty, and high rates of unemployment, Jamaica also suffers from natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and fires. Patterson noticed the continued exploitation of Jamaica’s natural resources with no regard for the people who lived there.

Patterson began to study public health and community organizing. Traveling to sub-Saharan Africa, she saw that the people there were even worse off economically and environmentally than those in Jamaica. Working with patients who had AIDS, Patterson saw that pharmaceutical companies would rather rake in profit than save the lives of African people. When Hurricane Katrina happened, Patterson found herself noticing the same governmental neglect of communities of color. She began working at a disaster recovery center in Houston and quickly noticed the biases against those seeking refuge. This motivated her to “advance systemic disaster equity during and after emergency situations” (198), but it’s difficult to achieve justice under a capitalist system, which is rooted in racism, sexism, and xenophobia.

Patterson believes that the only way to achieve true equality for people of color is through a total system change. The revolution has already begun, and Patterson calls for all people across races, classes, and movements to link arms and work together to combat climate change.

In Hopper’s poem, the narrator deals with and unnamed “problem” that is constant and part of daily life; it’s something that we live our lives around and live our lives trying to solve. In some cases we cling to the problem while at other times we forget about the problem, but we are almost always facilitating it.

Russell, a well-known fashion model, writes a letter to fossil fuel executives: “It turns out we both work in highly extractive industries that pay a small number of us extremely well at the expense of people and the planet” (205). The fashion industry contributes to 8-10% of fossil fuel emissions.

Russell was working on set in 2013 when news about the collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh broke. Over 1,100 people were killed and 2,500 more were injured. This factory produced clothing for brands that Russell had worked for; she realized over time that those profiting from the garments made in this factory (including her) had escaped any responsibility for the conditions those workers experienced. She challenges herself and fossil fuel executives to confront their complicity in failing humanity. Those in power have a responsibility to create change in the fashion industry. She gives the example of the Lowell Mills girls in the 1830s who organized the first women’s labor union in the United States. More examples of responsible companies in the fashion industry are thredUP, Depop, Fibershed, and Custom Collaborative; these are all alternatives to fast fashion, which is a major culprit in fossil fuel emissions. The energy industry needs to follow suit. There are plenty of examples of small communities converting to solar or renewable energy. She calls on fossil fuel companies to treat their employees more fairly. This transition looks like shifting investments away from fossil fuel companies. Most companies rely on a level of extraction to grow, but it is time to radically transform these industries.

Houska’s essay contrasts the sacred, life-giving spaces of Indigenous American reservations with the sanitized boardrooms of Western civilization that see the Earth as something to consume rather than conserve. Many proposed climate change actions replicate the same systems of inequality that we are attempting to dismantle.

Houska describes a protest in Northern Canada: A young woman is suspended in the air, blocking the entrance to Enbridge’s US tar sands pipeline; this pipeline would carry 700,000 barrels of “bitumen sludge” per day through Indigenous territory. This protest stops the work for the time being, but then sirens begin to sound in the background. Local people laugh at and threaten the protestors; police begin to saw the legs of the tripod holding up the woman. Safety could exist in numbers, especially when standing with and for the land, but change most often will not happen comfortably. The woman is brought down and taken away in a police car.

As a “frontline representative,” Houska delivers lawsuits to corporate bankers and attempts to remind them of their connection to the land and the Earth. Banks are divesting from fossil fuels frequently; Indigenous advocacy is creating change.

Hirshfield’s poem details the silencing of climate scientists. Nature itself is now the only thing that can speak for itself. The rivers, wind, trees, all continue their existence while the “bus drivers, shelf stockers, code writers, machinists, accountants, lab techs, cellists” keep speaking (221).

McCarthy spent most of her life in government service, designing programs and implementing laws to maintain public health. When the Trump administration came into office, McCarthy felt that they worked to tear apart the environmental protection work that she had helped with during Obama’s second term. The administration denied the reality of the climate crisis and rolled back 100 regulations, including the Clean Power Plan and Clean Water Rule.

With her children and grandchildren in mind, McCarthy began working at an environmental advocacy organization called Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). This organization’s goal is to prevent rollbacks and propose solutions to reduce greenhouse emissions and improve public health. McCarthy urges readers to “stop focusing on what government can do and start recognizing the critical role we all play in making government do its job” (224).

Health gives people a clear and compelling reason to act, personalizing the issue of climate change. Pollution kills more people annually than tuberculosis, malaria, and AIDS combined. Climate change affects children more than any other humans; preterm labor, birth defects, and severe asthma are just some of the effects that children experience due to climate change.

Women have always been at the forefront of the climate movement. McCarthy suggests attending local town meetings and events to hear of the issues happening in your community. She reminds us that there are already many solutions and innovations underway, showing us a way forward.