Dumbo Feather – February 2019

shouldn’t print this [laughs]. Andsecondwasactuallybeinginoneofthosekayaksonthe

water really close to the coal ships.Withonemassiveshipcomingthroughandnotstopping.

But the two things I was thinkingaboutthatdaywere,one,thepeoplewhoareleadingthis

need our solidarity. The Pacificisfeelingtheimpactsofclimatechangesoacutelyalready.

And two, there’s a website run byGlobalWitnessandTheGuardianthattrackedhowmany

environmental defenders were killedlastyeardefendingtheirlandortheirnaturalresources.

And it was 83 people.

Around the world. I think aboutthata lot.ThatactuallyinAustraliawehaveanobligation

to be brave and to put ourselvesoutthereonclimatechangewhateveritlookslikeforus,

because the worst that can happenwhenyoustanduphereisfarbetterthantheworstthat

is happening in so many other countriesaroundtheworld.Yetbecauseofourcoalexports,

Australia is one of the biggest contributorstoclimatechange.

I amactuallyrunningoutthedoortoa donormeeting

whereI willasksomeonetocontribute$200,000to

FarmersforClimateAction.AlotofwhatI doinvolves

askingpeopletodothingsor,asI liketolookatit,

givingpeopleopportunitiestomakeanimpact.There

iscourageinbeingabletomaketheask.Whetherit’s

askingthefarmerorgrazierinthemidstofdealing

withextremedroughttoaddtheirnametoanopen

letter against the Adani mine, askingsomeonefora donationtosupporta climatechange

advocacy group, asking someonewitha publicprofiletousetheirinfluencetomakea public

statement. It is going to take a lotofpeopleaskingifwearegoingtobuilda movementbig

enough to make meaningful change.

One of my favourite quotes is byEleanorRoosevelt.Shesaid,“Doonethingeverydaythat

scares you.” I’m in a different phaseofmylifenow,wherebecauseofhealthissuesandmy

son being so young I’m trying nottopushmyselfasmuch,andthat’sok—Iamactually

actively trying to spend more timeinthecomfortzonebecauseI wasgettingtoofamiliar

with the danger zone and I neededtoretreat.Buttherewillbea timesoon,I hope,whenI can

spend more time in that challengezoneagain.

Last yearwhentheIPCCreportcameoutandsaidbasically,“Wehave

11 yearstogetemissionsdownandcarbonoutoftheatmosphere,”

it freakedouta lotofpeople.Evenpeoplelikemewhohavebeen

involvedfora longtime.Youknowthegravityofthesituationbuton

a day-to-daylevelyoukindofcompartmentaliseandjustdoasmuch

as you caninasstrategica waypossible.Butreadingthatreportand

then seeingtheextremeweathereventsthissummer,youhavethat

question in the back of your mind:“Isit toolate?”Andwedon’treallyknowtheanswer.SoI

think, like all people involved inthiswork,GodI hopeit’snottoolate. Butyouhavetoact,and

we probably still do have time toturnthingsaround.Wearethelastgenerationthatdoeshave

So what about now? Are you still having to
summon up courage to do particular aspects
of your work? Putting aside the challenging five
months that you’ve had with your health and
moving. Does it still show up, this need to push from
safety to challenge zone? I mean you have a lot of
fire and that’s something that I really admire in you.

Wow.

I love that. I think it’s such a

constructive relationship you have with

change-making, maybe because you

did have that positive experience when

you were young, but it’s the epitome of

what Joanna Macy calls “active hope.”

Far out.

Do you know thebiggestreasonpeoplegive

for getting involvedin a socialmovement?

“I was asked.”

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