the third kind of grassroots politics that *might* just save america

Hi friends,

Climate policy in the news today is… not looking optimistic. It hasn’t for a while.

We’re soaring past the 1.5 degrees Celsius target of the Paris Accords with little major action from big corporations or governments.

As a result, I argue, we need to look beyond who should take responsibility for climate action to who can. 

Past the quagmire of finger pointing and responsibility shifting loved by stressed democrats is a world of under-the-radar opportunities — like sustainable intentional communities.

the theory

Over the past decade, tens of thousands of Americans have upended their lives to move to radically sustainable communities, from volunteers in New Mexico hammering recycled tires into homes to retirees in Detroit turning abandoned lots into urban farms.

These community-driven efforts offer a third path towards climate resiliency that eschews reliance on individuals or corporations.

While operating on the individual level makes it hard to have a significant impact, by banding together, these community groups are scaling up climate action one neighborhood at a time.

That’s what I mean when I talk about a new type of grassroots politics: it’s not about individuals rising up together, its about communities working together to build the future they want to see.

Community groups have more independence of action than any group of government. They’re not bound to capitalist standards like big corporations. And they have more impact and resources than an individual would have alone.

The length of the bars represent how much each ecovillage in the study reduced their carbon footprint or ecological footprint beyond the average for their area. Notice that every ecovillage they studied reduced its footprint by at least 25% of the average, and up to more than 125%. Which is to say — even though most residents will say they’re not as sustainable as they’d like to be, ecovillages’ sustainability efforts really are making an impact.

to the skeptics

I’m sure many of you are reading this thinking that the idea of a grassroots surge of community-led climate actions is hopelessly idealistic.

But this isn’t a prediction, it’s a theory of another possible path forward. And it’s a theory that we could turn into reality.

Many of us are already doing so. Almost half of the readers of this newsletter live in an intentional community; probably at least half of that number are working on community-driven sustainability initiatives.

Disagree? Let’s chat more about it in the comments!

in the background

Today’s newsletter had to be a bit condensed because just this morning I noticed that my kitten is just starting to get fleas. What joy. Cue a day of mild chaos for me, my six roommates, and our three pets.

However, all is well here! Work is working, and life is chugging along.

I’m thinking of creating a Substack, either in addition to or replacing this current platform. Does anyone have thoughts on that? Some people rave about substack, but I haven’t used it much personally.

Got a comment on that, or anything else? Click the icon that looks like a little speech bubble in the top left of this email. Or, find your way to this post on the webpage (the "leave a comment” button below should take you there) and scroll to the bottom of the post to find the comments feature.

Don’t forget to do a little cloud gazing today.

With much love,

Jasper