Entering the New Year: We Have Never Been Here Before.

2022: “This Has Never Happened Before”

The last half of 2022 has had several “this has never happened before” (quoting Aggy from 350.org in the post “Three Reasons to Be Hopeful” about COP27)

In fact, Reasons to Be Cheerful has 183 ways the world got better in 2022. Not all are environmental, though many are, but it is a list worth perusing.

Our recent News posts:

 COP27 saw wealthy nations taking at least a modicum of responsibility and agreeing to create a fund to compensate developing nations for losses and damages due to climate change primarily created by the wealthy nations who profit the most from it.  (see our post) Too little too late? Perhaps. But this has never happened before.

 The Inflation Reduction Act in the United States. (click here to read the post we published when it passed) Too little too late? Perhaps. But this has never happened before: the US government under the Biden administration acknowledged the problem of climate change and took responsibility to the tune of about 370 billion dollars.

 The European Union has recognized the problem of plastic pollution and joined an international treaty to end it in 20 years. (we wrote about it in this post) Will it happen? Maybe not, but this is a huge first step if it is ever going to happen. The United States hasn’t signed on, but has pending legislation to control plastic pollution.

There is hope for nuclear fusion as an energy source. (read our post about it here) This would be a game changer. Will it happen? We have no idea, but in principle it is now an engineering problem, and this was a “proof of principle” that it can happen. We needed this if it is ever going to happen.

Biodiversity in the protected Ballona Wetlands in urban Los Angeles, California

And now two new stories: The USPS is prevented from buying all gas-guzzlers, and COP15 protects biodiversity:

The United States Postal Service (USPS) under the President Trump appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was slated to spend 9.6 billion dollars to buy as many as 165,000 vehicles that would get less than 9 miles per gallon of gasoline! Pressure from over a dozen states (yes, local elections matter!) with help from the Biden administration (they couldn’t force the USPS alone) changed that. Now they will buy 106,000 vehicles, 66,000 electric, by 2028, with zero emission vehicles only by 2026. Too little too late? Perhaps. But this has never happened before: states banding together to in effect get 66,000 gas guzzlers off the road and commit to tens of thousands of emissions-free vehicles.

COP15 in Montreal ended with a biodiversity agreement that included plans to protect 30% of the planet and restore 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030. Will it happen? Too little too late? We’ll see. But if it is going to happen this is a critical first step. Thirty percent would be amazing. An article in the journal Nature in 2020 estimated that even restoring 15%, if carefully chosen and done correctly, “could avoid 60% of expected extinctions while sequestering 299 gigatonnes of CO2—30% of the total CO2 increase in the atmosphere, or 14% of total emissions, since the Industrial Revolution.”

Also at COP15, members of faith-based groups came together to  discuss the role of religions to “protect and preserve” nature.

And legislation matters for biodiversity. An brief well-illustrated editorial published in the New York times on December 30, 2022 highlighted the increase in biodiversity in New York Harbor achieved with the Clean Water Act.

Will any of this happen?

The refrains:

-We never saw this before.

 -If this is going to happen, these are the first, necessary steps.

-There has been good news

-Elections and legislation matter.

 In some areas of the globe, voices that speak out for the environment and environmental justice are brutally silenced.  As we enter the new year, let’s remember that, whether through the government, acting with or donating to environmental organizations or faith-based groups, or improving sustainability and resilience at home and at work, many of us do have a voice, and have some agency, however small. Let’s pay attention, and use that voice to join the chorus as best we can, when we can.

After all, we have never been here before. We don’t know what we can accomplish!