Saturday, July 16, 2016

Climate Change and Depression? Kick it in the Butt with Peer Pressure

On the days I ride the bike to work, I pass a house with a big old Chevy diesel truck idling in the driveway. There's never anyone in it or near it. It's just sitting there burning fuel and polluting the air. I pass idling empty cars all over the place, but this one is remarkable in its consistency. Keep in mind, this is happening in July - not December.

Not this bike, but you get the idea

Sometimes I also see a pseudo-jet-powered bicycle buzzing down 47th Street. Some guy in town has strapped a 2-stroke leaf blower to the back of his old Huffy cruiser. He scoots by loudly and slowly in a cloud of blue smoke.

And I wonder about these two pollution factories. Do these people actively want to destroy life on Earth, do they just not give a damn, or do they not believe they're hurting anything?

And it depresses the tar out of me! It definitely negates any positivity created by my bicycling and composting and recycling and running around the house turning lights off.

Yes, I know where I live. I am in West Texas where it's guns and beef and diesel and God-sponsored politicians wealthy from oil and lobbyists. There is little room for a mesquite hugger here. And it gets really depressing. Combine that with consistently record-breaking weather and people running around everywhere killing each other - this is not a great season for joy.

So, this morning I found myself googling climate change depression. I found lots of stuff - lots of depressing stuff and Naomi Klein quotes. I also found an article, Depressed about Climate Change? Good. Here's How to Take Action, that offered some hopeful advice. I needed some hopeful advice.


The rest of the article offers a  great deal of insight into climate change inaction, but this paragraph really hit home. So, if you see me trying to use positive peer pressure on my social network, you'll know what I am trying to do. Does anyone know Jet Bikerson's Twitter handle?

May you influence positivity and not give in to depression!

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