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What this wind opponent says for positive climate action.
Dear Reader,
I am an optimistic Dot, a cheerleading Dot, a Dot who prefers the carrot to the stick. Alas, my sweetness has been soured. Today I reveal a darker Dot, shining a light on this opposite of a Climate Champ — someone who, though he knows better, chose to impede significant climate progress.
I highlight this climate villain not to be vindictive so much as instructive. Because, Reader, if one man can so persuasively shift policy in a direction that harms our climate, then what does that say for those of us who feel too small, too ineffective, too powerless to shift policy or opinion in a direction that helps our climate? I’ll tell you what it says, Reader. It says pshaw! It says that we are limited by our imaginations, that each of us holds more sway than we realize. It says we cannot sit this out. Or, as Maya Angelou famously said, “when we know better, we do better.” Emphasis, Reader, on “do.”
What has our villain done? He has held back the wind.
Let climate scientist (and Dot Climate Champ) Katharine Hayhoe explain: “[David] Stevenson is 75, drives a hybrid car, and has rooftop solar installed at his home. He acknowledges the reality of climate change. … In 2017, he began his campaign against offshore wind, opposing Skipjack Wind Farm — a 966-megawatt Danish-led project slated to be built off the coast of Maryland.” According to a story on Canary Media, “he attended town hall meetings and submitted public comments. He and fellow residents of local coastal communities organized against the wind project under the name Save Our Beach View, mailing over 35,000 letters and posting constantly to Facebook.”
His efforts worked, delaying the project by four years, which, Hayhoe estimates, resulted in as much pollution as putting 2 million gas-powered cars on the road for a full year.
Dot loves a good beach view, so I can imagine how Stevenson rallied his supporters to oppose the wind project. Indeed, the beach where Father Dot makes his home is dotted with wind turbines, up and down the coast. While it has certainly changed our family’s view, we choose to see those turbines as a beautiful thing: a sign of mesmerizing progress, of a future in which energy production is cleaner, and its price isn’t paid only by those with the misfortune of living near a coal-fired power plant, or where fracking is taking place.
But let us consider another beautiful thing: the power each of us has to create change. Hayhoe reminds us that “one of the most powerful (and all too often overlooked) ways to help build a better future is to show up where decisions are actually being made.”
So let’s each consider what that means for us personally. Maybe we begin attending town halls, hearings, and public consultations on things that matter to us — energy projects, conservation, transit, housing. And when we’re there, we speak up.
You don’t have to be an expert, just a citizen who cares. Maybe we join — or create! — a local group, on the side of the good guys. (Remember this Bluedot story, about a committed group of citizens who convinced their very conservative neighbors to vote in favor of renewable energy?) Maybe we volunteer with a nonprofit already at work in our community. Or maybe we run for elected office! Bluedot’s Guide to Citizen Action is a great place to start. And subscribe to some community newsletters focused on climate action, disaster preparedness, or like-minded initiatives. One person, as we see, can be powerful — especially when others join in.
Use David Stevenson as your “anti-inspiration,” Hayhoe recommends. Dot would prefer to see a whole lot more Climate Champs and keep Climate Villainy to a minimum.
If you take action — of any kind — please tell me about it, and I will share with all of my readers. We can cheer each other on … and drown out the David Stevensons of the world.
Championingly,
Dot
In the U.S., Common Cause provides contact info for political reps. In Canada, the On Canada Project provides contact info and even templates for letters.
For more Bluedot Climate Quick Tips, click here.
