The Big Blue Tent; There is a General in the House

Yesterday was a big day. Hillary's speech accepting the nomination is a huge moment in history.  But I want to turn my thoughts to another speech yesterday.

I think one of the most essential moments was General Allen's speech.

We just saw the military, the bastion of authority, in all its military trappings, in full drill commands INCLUDE transgender people and gays in what it is protecting. That is HUGE.

The LGTBQ community has just been told they haven't just been allowed to participate in the American Dream by getting to marry.  They are THE America that dreams, along with Muslims and women and blacks and hispanics and anyone else that can fit under that big blue tent.  Not only that, they can fully expect the power of their country to be behind them.  As the adult daughter of lesbians, growing up in a closeted family, with admonitions not to let friends know and worries about what the neighbors thought, I could never have imagined this day.  It is earth shattering.  And wonderful.

The implications of such a speech go much further, though.  You know what else is under that big blue tent?  Climate action.  And the implications for the military being part of the big blue tent for climate change? Wow.

That big blue Democratic tent's Party Platform resolves: "We believe the United States must lead in forging a robust global solution to the climate crisis. We are committed to a national mobilization, and to leading a global effort to mobilize nations to address this threat on a scale not seen since World War II. In the first 100 days of the next administration, the President will convene a summit of the world’s best engineers, climate scientists, policy experts, activists, and indigenous communities to chart a course to solve the climate crisis."  Looks like some of those engineers, climate scientists, policy experts, at least, are likely to be military personnel.  Military personnel in high places.

Everyone on the planet is in different levels of climate denial. Even climate activists. But the one group that always seems the closest to hard reality is the military. Those that speak for climate adaptation and mitigation within the military are about as pragmatic and hard nosed as you get. To be honest, I don't want climate solutions left in the hands of someone like Jill Stein who hasn't a clue just how tough this job is going to be, or how energy policy works, or energy markets, or the challenge of dispatchable energy versus baseload, the nuances of a national grid, or of storage and transmission.  The thought of the ultra pragmatic military, that runs like, well, the military, joining other experts in addressing climate change?  Yes, please.

If carbon emissions was not the single most important issue out there, or if we had more time, I would never want to put my support behind what feels so much like blind patriotism.  The sound of delegates chanting "USA" in response to a general vowing to make our enemies afraid is TERRIFYING.  It is somewhat comforting that he pointed out that Hillary Clinton knows how to use other tools besides military might, and it is gratifying to hear the LGTBQ community embraced as brothers and sisters, but we can make no mistake.  The US military is scary, by design.

But I made a decision. I am a climate voter. We have no choice.  We must use the power systems we have in place today to effect change.  We don't have time to create a new economic system first, or get money out of elections, or end corporate charters.  We must cut emissions now.  Now.  Yesterday, now.

As I watched Hillary take the stage, after listening to Chelsea, and I thought about how she has worked for children and women and minorities, I could relate to her, mom to mom.  And, maybe, just maybe, Hillary is exactly the mother we need in this fight. Mothers don't give a sh*t about ideology or shy away from frightening paths when their kids are suffering. They just do what's got to be done. And I am not sure, but I would like to hope, that is exactly what we have forming here. Or that at least we have the potential for its formation here.

Part of me, the part that wants to follow Obama's path of hope, the one that wants to resist cynicism, wants to say, yes, we are seeing what a woman leader can do to bring together the people that are needed to get sh*t done. No bluster, no hot air. Just sheer insistence that it get done.

If we can do that with climate, the mother in me is with her 100%.

The Clinton Climate Message From this Week

There is a lot to digest from this convention, not the least of which is the vision of a general, authority incarnate, being inclusive of gays, entering big tent politics, to a roaring Democratic Party.  What that might mean for climate action is astounding.  But I will save that for a future post.  

In this one, I will focus on the carefully crafted climate message we heard this week, the one that Hillary believes will resonate with voters. The one that demonstrates strong gains in political will by the climate movement.

What is that message?

(1). Throwing out science denial.  Hillary said  "I believe in science.  I believe climate change is real" and the audience returned a fabulous resounding roar of approval.  

Now listen, no one is truly out of denial. The country is moving through the stages of climate denial at varying rates. 

But the anger at the GOP's outright refusal to deal with it now resonates strongly.  And it's about time. 

(2).  Turn the challenge of climate change into opportunity.  The ad below came out this week. It touches on voter anger with denial momentarily (and highly effectively with great sound effects). But more, it makes it clear, she is going to focus on solutions, not doom. In fact, nearly every time climate was raised this week, the narrative was turning climate challenges into opportunities. 

This is consistent with the research.  There is strong evidence that people will more likely accept the problem of climate change once they feel they can accept the solutions. (There's little that is logical about the human psyche, but there you have it). 

We don't need people to feel doomed. We need them to vote for climate solutions. We need them to see how climate solutions will help them continue to get food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. And, indeed, that's the whole point of averting climate catastrophe in the first place. 

(3). Incorporate solutions into other initiatives. In her speech last night, she said, in the first 100 days she would put jobs at the top of the list.  Included in that list was clean energy jobs. 

She has said she intends to create a climate strategy room in her first 100 days. She has said day 1 was the day she would start to address climate. But in a national speech, she puts that within a jobs program narrative. That's something we at Citizens Climate Lobby do, too, offering our carbon fee as a job creation plan. It's effective with people that don't like to talk climate. 

But she isn't going to refer to climate every day. She is instead going to sew it into the other initiatives she must act on.  And that is okay. Because we need climate considered in every other initiative we take. 

But, once again, it means that it comes to us to raise the big C word every day.   These moves are important. But they will not be enough. They show excellent use of the executive power to drive us toward solutions. But they don't teach our neighbors how dire things are. 

And that will come to us. Not to be angry at her for being responsive to the political will and using experts to craft solutions and messages. But to teach our neighbors that she needs our support in climate action and that we need legislators that will hand her even stronger solutions that she can sign into law. And, yes, to move her and us and everyone else a little further out of denial. 

Here is the climate ad that she put out this week.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_ZwguLJVxsM

President Obama's Case for Democracy

Authoritarianism

Or democracy.

Someone has to.

We have to understand who Trump's base is.

They are not stupid. They are not conservatives that have been duped.

They are authoritarians. Their world view is that might makes right. Literally. Please, stop and read that again. Their world view is that might makes right. If someone is stronger, if someone can demonstrate they can win, they are the best leader. This is the philosophical basis of what they believe.

It means when Trump asks Putin to hack Hillary Clinton, he is not trying to lose.

He's not making mistakes.

His call for Russia to hack Clinton is adept.

His supporters are not conservatives. They are authoritarians.

They see this statement as highlighting Hillary Clinton's vulnerability to Putin. And the world. This highlights, to them, HER weakness.

When Trump attacks McCain for being unworthy, it's because he didn't escape. When he gets rich by scam and bankruptcy, he is not showing weakness. He is showing strength to his base. Every time we are disgusted and wonder when they will get it, we are misunderstanding that they DO get it.

Trump is dangerous. We are on a giant playground. And the bullies are looking to their ring leader. And we have to do the hardest thing of all. We have to speak up to say that's wrong, together.

Conservatives. Moderates. Liberals. Progressives.

We must speak up to defend the weaker. Because weakness is not wrongness and being the strongest bully is NOT okay.

And when Obama cries over the deaths of children, he is right. When children die from gun wounds, they are not wrong because their bodies are not stronger than bullets. When people suffer and die because fossil fuel companies act with impunity, they do not simply deserve it.  When the people of Flint are stricken with lead poisoning, the Governor is not right simply because he could get away with it.  

Weakness is not wrongness.  Tears are a sign of compassion.  Compromise is GOOD.  

And when we cannot find perfection in a single candidate, when we get into the messy imperfect world of the politics of democracy and compromises, and we don't get our way on every single thing, we are not wrong.

We are right.

Thank you, Mr. President.