The assault on democracy in the US continues.

“The GOP’s national push to enact hundreds of new election restrictions could strain every available method of voting for tens of millions of Americans, potentially amounting to the most sweeping contraction of ballot access in the United States since the end of Reconstruction, when Southern states curtailed the voting rights of formerly enslaved Black men, a Washington Post analysis has found.” – Amy Gardner​

The gutting of the voting rights act in 2013 and Trump’s big lie to millions have paved the way for the “avalanche of voter suppression” efforts currently underway in 2021 by GOP lawmakers in states across the country.

This is so basic. The right to vote is foundational to democracy.

Voting rights are important and should be prioritized no matter what.

And they’re critical for getting the government to take bold climate action. This is because voter suppression disproportionately disadvantages people of color. And people of color are the most concerned about climate change (possibly because people of color are also disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change and the air pollution from fossil fuel infrastructure).

Two bills to know about that will make a huge difference are the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act (H.R.1 & S.1).

Trump may be out of office, but there is still loads of work to do before the US claws its way out of the mess it’s in.

For more detailed info, I’d recommend this article or this video.

Climate tipping points

Tipping points are one of the scariest pieces of the climate crisis.

There are thresholds in our climate system that we must not cross. If we do, natural feedback loops could accelerate beyond our control and we end up with runaway warming and annihilated ecosystems.

These are long-term, basically irreversible changes that would mean unimaginable amounts of devastation, suffering, and death for people and all life on earth.

I’ve been meaning to do a deep dive on this for a while, and still plan to at some point, but saw this excellent Ted Talk recently by the world-renowned Johan Rockström so figured I’d share it now for those interested.

For a deeper dive, you can also read “Climate tipping points — too risky to bet against”.

We can still choose to rebuild a WAY better future!

It’s hard to understate how messed up our current trajectory really is.

Just as it’s hard to understate just how much safer, healthier, and more just our future world could be.

A random thought I had the other day: how much less cancer would there be in the world if we simply eliminated the pollution poisoning our air and water?

A better future is possible. It’s popular. And it’s an economic bargain.

We just need enough people like you and me to speak up, organize, and collaborate to influence the policy and investment decisions where we live and work – or wherever your unique spheres of influence are.

A key component we’re still largely missing, however, is painting the picture of what this better future looks, sounds, and feels like.

We can’t just be against all the bad things. We also need to know what we’re for – what we’re working towards.

I’m going to take a whack at articulating what this better world looks like soon with the enormous help of crowdsourced answers from dozens of people like you. Feel free to add more ideas 🙂

Stay tuned and take care!