Last October, Jane Fonda received the 2019 Stanley Kubrick Award for Outstanding Film, a prestigious honor by the British Academy of Television Arts and Crafts. Sadly, the 81-year-old actor was very busy detention on Capitol Hill receiving the award in person.
"Thank you, BAFTA!" he shouted as police led him away in a plastic bag. Public disobedience was a factor Fire Drill Friday, a weekly meeting organized by a character change activist in partnership with other climate justice organizations. More than 30 other protesters entered the police agreement that day, one of whom was Lynne Iser, a 10-year-old known as Fonda.
Iser got his own handcuffs and got into jail with Fonda and a few other arrestees. They talked about their motivations for joining the climate movement, their involvement with various environmental organizations and the importance of doing something to support the cause they care about.
"He had the same desire for his grandchildren," Iser told Earther.
Although he was a college student during the Civil Rights Movement and supported social change, Iser was never imprisoned for a reason. But as he got older, his worldview changed. He began to see growth as an opportunity to think about the kind of world he would leave for future generations. The ingenuity and experience gained through all the years of life under his belt were the assets to make that world a better and safer place. He wasn't old; & # 39; he was old. & # 39;
"What I think is most important now is to create our own issues," Iser told Earther. "What do we want to fight for and fight for?"
When her daughters became worried about Earth's climate, Iser decided that she would fight for a planet she could occupy. He joined the Elders Action Network, an organization that recruits older people in social justice and climate activists. When she heard about Fonda's plan to be arrested every Friday throughout 2019 and 2020, she headed down from Philadelphia to partner with it, along with people from all ages who were willing to donate their criminal records for the benefit of the world.
People like Fonda and Iser may seem out of place it is primarily a youth-led climate movement-They work for at least half a century than activists like Greta Thunberg, Israel Hirsi, and Jamie Margolin. But as they grow older, older people are more willing to be independent with their grandchildren striving for a possible future – and they have the time, networks and wisdom to make a real impact.
A small group of anxious people was formed Adult Weather Adult (ECA) in 2015 to integrate its generation into climate and justice related issues. The party – now with a capacity of more than 10,000 – has seen a surge in membership since its leadership of the youth. ECA partners with environmental organizations such as the Environmental Voter Project and youth-led initiatives such as the US Climate Strike and the Sunrise Movement to bring elderly people into the fight for the weather and for younger generations.
These climate activists come from different backgrounds and have a variety of inspirational experiences. Hazel Chandler, co-founder and founder of ECA & # 39; s Arizona Chapter, has been involved in environmental protection since Earth Day first in 1970. During that time, he experienced firsthand how displaying the spirit and clean spirit resulted in meaningful policy change. Today, the climate organization is trying to tackle a bigger challenge than cleaning up toxic waste or controlling air pollution. We are trying to change human relations with the Earth to prevent the decline of the natural disaster we depend on for survival.
"My son, who has just turned 51, was hit in the waist when I first knew that global warming could be a problem," Chandler told Earther. In 2015, she resigned from her job at a state agency that supports early childhood programs and decided to spend her free time on making sure those children had a working planet to thrive on. He made one call with the ECA, and was already on the association's newly formed association committee.
Last August and September, the Arizona Chapter hosted five town halls across the state, speakers and organizations from generation to generation, culture and religion are meeting to discuss ways of dealing with climate change at all levels of government. In the two months following those meetings, membership of this chapter rose from 50 to about 800 people.
The Arizona Youth Climate Strike is holding on to these town halls, and the work of consolidation has paid off. In addition to increasing the number of people who turn to social activities, activists are ways for activists and minorities to learn from one another. Adults help teens navigate the state legislature, talk to legislators and complicated policies. Aditi Narayanan, director of operations at the Arizona Youth Climate Strike, said that was something many of her peers had ignored in their planning. Also, their younger colleagues have taught them the importance of urgency and great justice.
"It's really important to be united, especially if you work towards a common goal," Narayanan told Earther. "It was really interesting to learn from them."
Engaging in climate stress has helped older people connect with others of their age (and younger) who share their worldview. ECA co-chair Leslie Wharton, who still describes himself and has little knowledge of the activist even though he was a college student during the Vietnam War protests, never thought he was planning a climate change strike in his later years. But seeing how people could come together when they were pursuing something meaningful made him rise.
"We built a real community, and it's fun," Wharton told Earther. "It took me a long time to realize that rehabilitation can have meaning."
Teens gathered to change i the coal economy because they know that they will survive the ever-increasing consequences of climate change if world leaders continue to do nothing to reduce that. But the climate crisis is already here, and even though they will never experience the truly terrible catastrophes that will last after this century, the elderly feel the heat.
More than 26 percent of Florida's residents are over 60, making their population "old" on average in any country. Most of these people live in it on the beach cities such as Naples, Vero Beach and Cape Coral. The ocean at their door get up, on average, about six inches from the 1950s. When that basic water level increases, it raises the high altitude (also known as the king again) and storm attacks causing very frequent and destructive flooding to coastal communities. The city of Miami alone saw 320 percent increased from flooding concerns since 1996. Over a million homes in government they live 6 feet above the power line, which puts them at greater risk of being dehydrated even on completely calm days. Geri Freedman, co-chair of the ECA, lives in South Florida, where she experienced firsthand the change.
"When I moved here, there was no flood day," Freeman told Earther. "That wasn't there."
ECA members in California live in the way of wild fires. Arizons experience drought and record heat. Older people are the most populous group that bring about these climate barriers, as most disaster response plans are not designed with them in mind. They may have reduced mobility or special medical needs that are not in an emergency. And they are special to be touched in respiratory issues trapped in wildfire smoke and heat-related illnesses. If the desire to leave a positive legacy is not enough for the elder activist to take action on the weather, they are already living the consequences of a warming world. They also remember that things used to get better and worried that they would get worse for their grandchildren.
"I have a 17-month-old gr andson, and I'm really scared for his future," Iser said. “There is no way I believe she will stay in her home when she is 60 years old and look in her back yard, and she will be as beautiful and peaceful as my life is. I just don’t think that is the future to come. ”
Michael Smyer, a professor of psychology at Bucknell University who studies environmental psychology, said that older people are not just victims of climate change – they are "an unchanged source of climate change."
While planning, marching and chasing climate justice is important, so do voting for candidates and the steps that will improve. Over the past four decades, people over the age of 45 have turned out to have the highest voter turnout in primary, mid-term and general elections compared to other age groups. Seventy-one percent of Americans age 60 and older they voted in the 2016 election, compared with 46 percent of those between 18 and 29 years old.
But even within the Democratic Party, older people do not vote. Exit polling places organized by Super on Tuesday age gap: 58 percent of voters ages 18-16 voted for Bernie Sanders, who $ 16 trillion Green New Deal found him an a consensus from the Sunrise Movement (ECA's legal status prevents them from being eligible for voting), compared to only 15 percent of voters over the age of 65. These numbers are then sent to Joe Biden himself, without having the opportun ity to find "solutions" such as wrap and carbon rearrangements. weather system
While climate justice is not close to one candidate or election, it is clear that most older people still have some learning to do. But in addition to the country's controversial work, ECA members are also working to encourage other adults to vote with the Earth in mind. Chandler said the Arizona Chapter & # 39; s cooperation and the Environmental Voter Project, which targets environmentalists but does not vote, may have contributed to the increase in voter participation in some of last November's local elections.
Retired or retired seniors also have more time to spend activist and political activities than younger working generations. As they grow older, they often think of the genre inheritance they want to leave behind, as Iser did.
"Getting into that legacy is a great thing to redefine the climate for older generations," Smerer told Earther. Once they get involved, their time, money, and networks – things Narayanan says teenagers often don't have – allow seniors to become effective drivers of action.
Bill McKibben, founder of the greenroots 350.org, said that older people can play an active role in the show (like Fonda) because the social risk is low.
"If a person has to go to jail for civil disobedience, young people do not need to have their answers erased," he told Earther. "Some years ago, what would they do to you?
While older people may appear to have rejected the reality of climate change, 2010 data from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication suggests denying more consensus with group perspectives than age; adults who have already identified as a climate scientist accept it at the same rates as their younger counterparts. Another is Yale survey Last November they found that more Americans described themselves as "shocked" by climate change than ever before, no doubt because of major strikes and youth-led protests. Baby boomers done high the percentage of people who responded to that survey.
On the downside, Chandler said he has seen "significant changes" in conditions among the elderly over the past two years alone – the environment is becoming more and more important. Part of it comes from the natural effects they've already heard, and the knowledge that things were getting better. Nowhere is this more expressed than in traditional communities, where being "old" means more than reaching a certain age.
Kyle Neite, a professor of philosophy and sociology at Michigan State University and a member of the Citizatomi National Citizen, told Earther that the elder "is a person who has the ability to bring people together, mediate, facilitate, empower." Traditional elders are generally knowledgeable, profound and respectful of themselves, the world, and their communities, and are equally supported and respected. It is hauled away from non-Native America, where we bind our older relatives to nursing homes when they become too burdensome. We do not realize that our grandparents, with their living knowledge, may still have much to teach us.
The indigenous elders have always been the strongest defenders of the Earth, motivated by their wisdom and respect for the planet. Take Josephine Mandamin, who started it walking around the Great Sea in 2003 to protect its precious water. Entering tens of thousands of miles in the next fourteen months, he mobilized the Water Walkers, people of all ages who went with him to perform water-awareness ceremonies. One such person is Tasha Beeds, an assistant professor in the department of indigenous studies at the University of Sudbury. The grandmother of Plains Cree said her grandchildren gave her a window for the future, forcing her to take responsibility for her protection.
“Grandmothers will always rise, with our ancestors,” Beits told Earther. He added that as the years came to clarify a person's identity in relation to their community: "Whatever I need I will do, because I understand who I am now."
While indigenous communities are more sensitive to their elders, Beeds says there is more value for individuals in terms of age.
"As adults, we've lived experience, but it's not the only experience," she said. In the process of climate justice work, non-Indigenous youth and adults have also begun to understand this relationship.
In a cultural moment in which to go back to any online political disagreements in "OK, Boomer," generations seem more inconsistent than ever. People born between the Second World War and the coming of the moon are classified as unstable and unaffected, and are blamed for even the evils of modern social and environmental origins. But weather travel can be one of those rare places where young and old can meet.
Of course, the biggest vitriol directed at young editors comes from adults who don't take themselves seriously because of their age. At TED Talk Last December, youth activist Xiye Bastida answered a question about encouraging constructive dialogue across this dynamic gap.
"Climate activists I know I don't use & # 39; Okay, Boomer & # 39; s because we fight for the cooperation of organizations," Bastida said. "I think criticizing and alienating others will not help us anywhere."
While the Boomers as a group of years ate and benefited from the economic system that created the crisis, they were not the ones who created that system in the first place and spread the spread about its dangers. That blame fossil fuel organizations and a the political system supports them. Wharton, chairman of the ECA, said, if anything, the Boomers are natural allies to the young people who lead the fight.
"We have a lot of knowledge and experience, and then we have the strength and concern of young people," Wharton said. "Between us, hopefully we can do something."
Chandler says he sometimes sees young people giving people his age for their failures on climate issues, and he thinks older people need to take responsibility for carbon emissions for years. But whether they're trapped in the Capitol or circling Lake Superior on foot, their contribution to the solution should not be overlooked.
“It is very important that our children understand that, yes, we have done something dirty on this Earth. But we were also activists, ”Chandler told Earther. "When we were young, it felt like we could change the world."
