“Future generations will remember not only what we did to protect our environment, but also what we did to protect our neighbors and the freedoms we too often take for granted.”
– BEN PASSER, MIDWEST CLIMATE & ENERGY PROGRAM DIRECTOR
The following is an excerpt from an essay by Ben Passer for Atmos Magazine.
If you work on issues related to climate and the environment, like me, you’ve likely heard a powerful phrase: This is the decisive decade.
The expression is intended to invoke urgency and ambition, and rightfully so. We are increasingly seeing the impacts of a changing climate: Extreme weather events are worsening and becoming more frequent. Heat waves and colder winter temperatures are putting immense strain on our already brittle energy infrastructure. My home state, Minnesota, saw its longest-ever air quality alert last year as rampant Canadian wildfires rendered our air unsafe to breathe for seven consecutive days. Minneapolis was even ranked among the most polluted major cities in the world during this time.
Fortunately, a record number of Americans recognize that these climate impacts are likely to affect them, if they aren’t already, and must be addressed. These beliefs are held across state lines and ideologies. The markets recognize this, too: Large-scale solar and wind energy remain the least expensive forms of new energy generation, even before subtracting the significant subsidies that fossil fuels continue to receive. If we were ever going to truly invest in a more sustainable future, the best time was several decades ago. The second-best time is now.
It’s true that this is the decisive decade—but not just for climate.
Our actions to address environmental impacts and protect communities rely on a functioning democracy in which folks can safely exercise their rights to peacefully assemble, speak their opinions without government censorship, and freely publish news and information: all bedrocks of the First Amendment. Without these, individuals and organizations would not be able to educate regulators and lawmakers on the issues facing their communities, such as air pollution, clean water, or energy affordability. Journalists would struggle to report the facts of the health, economic, and social impacts of environmental damage. And community members would be restricted from organizing in support of solutions that improve their quality of life and well-being.
In Minnesota, we have seen these fundamental freedoms tested in real time.
Over the last couple of months, Minneapolis and the entire state of Minnesota have seen an extraordinary presence of federal immigration agents engaging in actions that have not only disrupted our communities but also defied the rule of law and eroded the basic constitutional rights that the United States was founded on. Fortunately, ordinary Minnesotans have been standing up and stepping forward to peacefully insist that our constitutional rights be upheld. Their message is clear: This is not what a functioning democracy looks like.
Those of us who work on climate issues need to recognize that democracy is more than the ability to vote in free and fair elections (though that is, of course, an important right). A true democracy is a system that allows many people to hold diverse and different opinions; that preserves and honors independent institutions and actors, such as the judiciary, capable of behaving impartially and in accordance with the law; and that supports broad principles of civic participation, including the ability of everyday individuals to share information, engage in decision-making processes, and have a voice in policies and practices that affect them. Recent examples illustrate the importance of these principles: Nationally, a lack of broad civic awareness undermined the durability of climate-focused policy such as the Inflation Reduction Act; and in states like Ohio, concentrated power and a lack of transparency resulted in laws that cost ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars and prompted local leaders to build their own solutions.
Our experience in Minnesota should be a clear alarm bell for the rest of the country. If these harmful actions are allowed to continue and spread, and we normalize the unjust targeting of members of our community, we risk the collapse of the institutions and norms that are core to who we as Americans aspire to be. And if those institutions and norms collapse, we risk losing any meaningful ability to address environmental harms and advance positive solutions in our communities in the near-term.
It’s true that this is the decisive decade—but not just for climate. It’s also the decisive decade for the governance framework on which our work depends…
Minnesotans Are Showing Up With Heart
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