Gina’s reflections on a year of climate action, here and around the world.
“We will not rest until each and every one of you gets engaged and active. Our kids are counting on us.”
—Gina McCarthy, Director Harvard C-CHANGE
On May 30 last year, we launched Harvard C-CHANGE under the leadership of former EPA Chief Gina McCarthy. We look back at a year of climate action and share some of the reasons why we are proud of the progress that we and many others are making, and why we are excited for what comes next.
START A CONVERSATION ON CLIMATE
We don’t ask for much. But, it is our birthday, so can you do us a favor? Have a conversation about climate change.
Airing our fears and hearing the concerns of others is the first step in becoming a change maker, because we can plan together how to tackle the problem. Many of us are trying to quietly manage our own anxieties, but imagine if you discovered that your friends, colleagues, and neighbors were feeling the same way? You could learn what they are doing to act on climate to spark ideas of your own.
It all comes down to doing what feels good, and action is a powerful antidote to despair. Plus, freedom from despair leads to more action! This two-fer can only lead to cleaner, healthier lives for our kids and their kids, so let’s get started.
Conversation starters: 5 must-reads
- How one class assignment to interview elders yielded surprising results.
- Download the Climate Reality Project’s e-book for parents navigating this challenging topic.
- Get talking points about how climate will change in your area.
- Learn why the words you use to describe climate change matter.
- Here’s how to talk to a climate skeptic.
BRINGING OUR MISSION TO LIFE
This year we’ve been raising awareness of the health impacts of climate change, turning evidence into action, and making climate change personal. It’s working. Here are few highlights:
Guiding policy on kids and climate
“I have cared for children with asthma whose lungs have been so damaged by contaminated air that they were scarcely able to breathe.”
—Dr. Aaron Bernstein, Co-director, Harvard C-CHANGE
Our Co-Director Dr. Aaron Bernstein told Congress that reliance on fossil fuels is damaging the health of children around the world.
Watch his testimony about how climate change impacts kids’ health, or read about it in Courthouse News.
Translating science into action
Evidence: We conducted a just-in-time analysis of the Trump Administration’s plan to replace EPA’s Clean Power Plan—an action that will raise emissions and kill more people. The plan is worse for climate and health than having no plan at all.
Action: It was covered in the The Hill, Scientific American and during the confirmation hearing of EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler.
Saying ‘no’ to attacks on science
Our Co-director Aaron Bernstein joined nearly 100 Harvard leaders in signing a letter calling on the EPA to withdraw its proposed rule on scientific “transparency,” because it would harm human health. Read more about the letter.
Making Climate Change Personal
It’s not about glaciers and polar bears—the climate conversation must focus on how climate changes health, and we need the media to write stories about how what’s at stake and what we can do about it. That’s why we’ve joined forces with journalism associations, networks, and schools to help reporters who don’t usually write about climate understand how it is relevant to their beat.
We’ve worked with the MIT Knight School of Journalism, Association of Health Care Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation’s Health Coverage Fellowship. In the coming year, we look forward to working with Report for America, Northeastern’s School of Journalism, and joining the Kavli Science Editing Workshops and Online News Association Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA.
A YEAR OF GINA-ISMS
Here’s a look back at one of our favorite moments when Gina inspired us to stop watching the news, get up, and do something.
“[The midterm election winners] actually ran on a climate agenda and won. So don’t tell me we are losing. We are not losing. We’ll only lose if we lose hope. We’ll only lose if we fail to listen to our own inner self telling us that we’re better than this.”
Hear one of Gina’s all-time best pep-talks for climate optimism
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