earth day :: why bother?

lots of writers, lots of good writers, have dedicated themselves to addressing & exploring our growing environmental crises, but perhaps no other writes with as much eloquence and, importantly, with as much force as does michael pollan. in the green issue of today's ny times magazine (worth reading), pollan contributes an essay entitled "why bother?" (really worth reading) about the personal choices each of us, as americans and as global citizens, face in this age of hyper-specialization, general helplessness, and urgent, massively-scaled environmental problems. (i'm going to quote it at length but, again, please take twenty minutes to read it for yourself.)

There are so many stories we can tell ourselves to justify doing nothing, but perhaps the most insidious is that, whatever we do manage to do, it will be too little too late. Climate change is upon us, and it has arrived well ahead of schedule. Scientists’ projections that seemed dire a decade ago turn out to have been unduly optimistic: the warming and the melting is occurring much faster than the models predicted. Now truly terrifying feedback loops threaten to boost the rate of change exponentially, as the shift from white ice to blue water in the Arctic absorbs more sunlight and warming soils everywhere become more biologically active, causing them to release their vast stores of carbon into the air. Have you looked into the eyes of a climate scientist recently? They look really scared.

so what, when peering into the teeth of this issue, does pollan suggest we do? plant a garden, of course. a response that may sound, on the face of it, either laughable or laughably insubstantial or a mixture of both. but just give him a second to explain more fully:

A great many things happen when you plant a vegetable garden, some of them directly related to climate change, others indirect but related nevertheless... growing even a little of your own food is, as Wendell Berry pointed out 30 years ago, one of those solutions that, instead of begetting a new set of problems — the way “solutions” like ethanol or nuclear power inevitably do — actually beget other solutions, and not only of the kind that save carbon. Still more valuable are the habits of mind that growing a little of your own food can yield. You quickly learn that you need not be dependent on specialists to provide for yourself...

a powerful argument, that (and more powerful still to read it unelided). it may be virtuous and conscious-soothing to participate in the movement and clamor demanding change from on high, in both policy and leadership, but it's unassailably, incomparably forceful - as an example and as a statement - to embody that change yourself. politicians and their policies will come around only after we have demonstrated a willingness to change our behaviors. after we stop thinking one way and acting another. "merely to give, to spend, even to vote, is not to do, and there is so much that needs to be done," pollan writes. planting a garden, switching to hybrid vehicles, walking to work, eating more (or only) locally grown food, forswearing meat -- these are not changes our lives can often easily accommodate. nor will they instantly cool the atmosphere. they may make a difference, however, if only to your neighbor or your parents or your friends. and ultimately that is how this movement, these changes, will take root, one person at a time. here's pollan again to sum it up for us: "sometimes you have to act as if acting will make a difference, even when you can't prove that it will."

here's to growing gardens, becoming actors.

pearl jam - garden (live, alternate)
greg brown - green grows the laurel
demon fuzz - hymn to mother earth

reminder: working in & on your new garden will give you plenty of time to compose lyrics for the a.g. climate song challenge - your chance to win tickets to the outside lands festival this august or a custom cigar box guitar or other swell prizes. find out more.