We can’t succeed alone: Climate change protest at the point of no return

Photo courtesy of the Kansas City Citizens’ Climate Lobby

We are all standing in one arena right now. The audience, gladiators, the caged animals—even the governors looking to buy all of their votes. The poorest of the poor, who won tickets from the lottery, are here too. Children are watching us slaughter one another over something that seems so trivial. Something that is already here, and can thrive with just a little more attention. A little more care. But we are fighting to the death to maintain our individual needs. 

The Earth is waiting impatiently for someone to draw the last sword, so she can show us what she’s really capable of. Maybe we should stop pushing her.

The Citizen’s Climate Lobby is an international organization that has proposed a bill, House Bill 763, Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, that sets a tax at the production of carbon fuel sources. The hope of the bill is to encourage the people to source their fuel from lower-emitting processes and seek alternatives for energy.

The promise of this tax is to return the money to the spender. Each month, the public would receive a tax dividend based on income. 

So what’s the hold-up? Why are more people not pushing harder for curbing the emissions put out by large corporations and getting money in return?

According to Stephen Melton, the Kansas City Missouri Co-Leader and Jennifer Brown, the Kansas City Kansas Co-Leader of the organization, some people don’t want to change. 

But for the ones that do wish to see change, they have taken it upon themselves to abandon their vehicles and take their bikes to work. People have reworked their diets, changed their sources of energy, and warped their entire world views. Some have sacrificed and some have prospered. But Melton, who served in the United States military, believes that even the most virtuous cannot reshape this world alone.

“This is the problem,” Melton says. “We play on human virtue. I’m a soldier. I don’t totally believe in human virtue.” 

Melton believes in a future where his granddaughter and her friends and other species are able to experience the same splendor that he has. However, this is still a tax. The people will be charged an amount each month for what they are buying from the fuels they use. It might be concerning to some, especially the people that are already living paycheck to paycheck. 

“When you’re living from month-to-month, you can’t care about 30 years from now,” Melton says when asked about how this bill would impact the people who are already struggling the most. 

Brown, quick to finish where Melton was going says, “This would be most helpful to the poorest people. You would receive the same amount back at any income.” 

These two are in tandem with this mission. They spend their days meeting with government officials, individuals at events like First Fridays, monthly meetings from the organization, and even with local vendors. Now, for instance, Melton has just been visiting local breweries to give them information about this bill, in hopes of their support and for change of the practice of brewing that can take heavy amounts of energy to process. 

What Brown and Melton hope the people understand most about this bill is that it is not up to the individual to practice solo measures. The voters need to come together to fight for policy changes and this bill isn’t being torn apart by partisan concerns the way many others are. 

In the time she has spent talking with people, Brown has noticed that it’s not about where you stand on the political spectrum. She thinks the best action citizens can take is to vote for the people who care about climate change. 

Representatives across the spectrum are interested in and have endorsed this bill. Sharice Davids, Quinton Lucas, and Sly James are all in support. 

“You think of them as leading, but they’re following what [the voters] want,” Brown said of our elected officials. Talking with these representatives, the CCL has been able to address their concerns with these lawmakers, and they’re getting them into the courts. 

The relationship between the Earth and the people is to capture it in bloodshed and battle because that’s what seems to be happening right now. Through massive tornados that ravage major cities in the night. By coordinating with animals and humans to release an epidemic like we haven’t seen in over 100 years. The seas swelling over, the lands drying out. We think we are in charge, but really, we are just here until Earth gets tired of waiting for us to make up our minds. 

The Citizens Climate Lobby had planned on hosting several different regional conferences, including one that was scheduled to take place in Wichita, KS the weekend of March 13-15. The conference was canceled to hopefully curb the spread of COVID19. Webinars engaged the refunded attendees with a chance to hear more about what was missed this weekend, including information about direct agriculture impact in this region. 

Your local city’s website will provide information about voting in your area while maintaining safety during the current epidemic. Throughout the current crisis, voting will remain open in some form. 

If you are interested in learning more about the Citizen’s Climate Lobby, please visit kcccl.org.