Climate Corner: Let's get judgy about climate

Someone recently said something to me that I can’t quite get out of my head. Another mom confided to me that she was concerned that her pickleball outfit would be judged by other moms.

So apparently, some moms are more concerned about what other moms think about them than they are about whether their children will have a recognizable planet in 20 years. And it’s not just “moms” — too few people are sufficiently concerned about the collapse of our planetary climate system, and the future habitability of Earth.

How crazy is this?

Parents play Mozart to their children in the womb to help activate their developing brains. Families spend beaucoup bucks for their kids’ birthday parties, keeping up with current fashions, vacations and the general accumulation of stuff. And then they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on recreational toys, like boats, cars and planes, and the money spent on colleges, tutoring, career counseling and resume-enhancing activities is astonishing.

What is it going to take for people to value our actual home? This one planet that sustains all life with a delicate balance? The only place our children will be able to fulfill the dreams of their future?

Last Sunday, I joined a panel at the Aspen High School’s annual college fair. The subject was pursuing degrees and careers in environmental studies and sciences, and I was invited to add my insights about such career opportunities. I say this again and again, but one of the datapoints I brought up is that, out of the $2.75 million that we at the nonprofit I run (Climate Curve) have distributed to programs and projects around the world, these organizations have subsequently gone on to raise add-on funding of almost $3 billion. That’s 1,000x. And that doesn’t even include the value beyond money — which is even more valuable.

I recall that three, maybe four students attended my panel discussion, along with one or two parents. I’m not sure what the total number of students and parents who attended the college fair was, but I’m guessing it was north of a thousand. Do we think in the Roaring Fork Valley that environmental sciences and environmental studies are secondary, or even unimportant? Are we valuing educational pathways toward making money over everything else?

This seems to be what our peers think is important. We have the means to think differently and invest in a future that we can be proud of — both ethically and financially. The opportunities on the other side of the fossil-fuel economy and the extractive mindset are insanely good.

The internship program, Constellations Fellowship, that my organization Climate Curve designed during the COVID shutdown is virtual and extremely competitive. Around 50 positions for college-age students are posted each semester — three times a year. This last semester, we received over 6,000 applications for these positions. What this tells me is that, despite the weak showing of interest at our local college fair, young people are highly interested in climate systems careers — and they should be.

I’m thinking about starting something locally — some type of internship that connects high schoolers to these career pathways. All future careers will need climate systems knowledge. It’s inevitable. The world is changing rapidly toward clean energy, electrification, regenerative systems and a circular economy.

One of my supporters just told me that his donation to the University of Colorado Boulder for their new climate-studies building comes with the requirement that all students are required to take at least one course on climate systems education. I’ve said this before, but there is no purpose for money on a dead planet — it’s worthless.

Meanwhile, my daughter is getting a master's degree in environmental technology with a focus on waste streams and circularity. She will be able to design pickleball outfits out of the plastic bags thrown away from your latest online purchases. Now that’s something to brag about to my friends.