Cost of Climate Change, Environment

Turning Down the Heat

By Maureen Williams and the Climate Action Network

In early July of 2024, a small group of Cortes Islanders, supported by Friends Of Cortes Island (FOCI), screened the film “How to Boil a Frog” for the community. The film is about the five-pronged problem life on Earth is currently facing — overpopulation, a war on nature, wealth disparity, peak oil, and climate change—and offers five actions that can help—boycott Exxon, change your “life” bulb (reduce consumption), a change of heart, one kid per couple, and kick some ass. This article is the first in a series focused on each of these five solutions from the film, and more. You can learn more about the film and the filmmaker, Jon Cooksey, here and here. You can even watch the film, here.


I decided to start in the middle

Change of Heart is Jon’s third of five solutions but, to my thinking, it may be the most important since it can provide the foundation for all other actions. A change of heart is what makes it compelling, straightforward, and irresistible to make right choices and work toward a less unlivable future. 

In the film, Jon wasn’t sure exactly how to define this change of heart. But he knew there was something very different about the earnest grounded experts and activists he interviewed. They had dedicated their lives to working for a better future, and they didn’t seem bitter or deprived. Maybe there’s something about the way they approach life’s challenges that we can all tap into. 

It seems to me, if we can figure out how to change hearts, we’ll have a much easier time, as individuals and collectively, facing the other solutions Jon posed, all of which will probably take us out of our comfort zones.

Sometimes it’s harder to do less than to do more

It’s been noted that people concerned about the planet seem generally eager to acquire new *things* for the cause—heat pump, solar panels, electric car—but there’s much more reluctance to reducing or giving things up, even when it would have a much bigger impact. Just the thought, or threat, of letting go of beef, big vehicles, air travel, and the latest greatest consumer items can inspire conspiracies of deep state control and loss of freedom.  

My friends Jack and Lori gave this anecdote while musing over the pie chart showing where our emissions come from on Cortes Island. (spoiler: more than 50% is related to transportation!) They spent tens of thousands of dollars installing a solar array on their house. After one year of being electrically net-zero, they checked their progress using a carbon footprint calculator. They were surprised to discover the effect of switching to solar was nothing compared to the difference that would have come from cutting out one of their airplane trips.  

Created by Cortes Carbon Solutions, 2007. Despite its age, this pie chart is still thought to roughly reflect the sources of GHGs among Cortes Islanders in 2024.

Of course, there are other benefits from making energy from sunlight that aren’t reflected in a carbon footprint. The great thing is there are many ways to make a positive difference, and they’re all necessary. Think “Yes, And…” But since ecological overshoot is, by definition, too many people using too much energy, reducing consumption is going to have to be part of the solution. 

So, we need a change of heart

With a change of heart, we’ll be able to see the movement toward a new way of life as positive. Those things that seem daunting now will seem not only necessary but enriching. We’ll feel compelled to do anything we can to help life transition as gently as possible through these turbulent times, and we’ll know with certainty that a simpler life is a richer life.

Brian McLaren’s book, Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart, offers insights about what kind of change of heart is needed. Here’s my interpretation of what McLaren says: 

If we check our hearts when we think about the seemingly insurmountable challenges of climate change and overshoot, many (most?) of us will find feelings like fear, hopelessness, guilt, and despair. Some of us will find hope. But, according to McLaren, instead of being the opposite of despair, hope (sometimes referred to as “hope-ium”) can be just another insidiously paralyzing feeling. For example, if your heart is full of despair, you may not take action since you do not believe the challenges are solvable; if your heart is full of hope—hope that the government/technology/human ingenuity will find us a way out of our mess—you may feel you, as a small and insignificant individual, don’t need to do anything, except keep hoping. 

Look a little deeper in that heart, because there is another feeling you will find. It is love.

Love is all there is

If love is the driver, anything is doable. Tap into love for our children, families, and friends, love for others, maybe even those we don’t know and those who aren’t born yet. Love for humpback whales and salmon, giant cedars and tiny pygmy owls, dragonflies and crickets, star flowers and thimble berries…. When we’re moved by love, we’ll want to do everything possible to protect the well-being of the objects of our love. Even if we accept that life is dying, we’ll be steadfast, we’ll give our all to ease the journey until the last breath, out of love. 

It’s important to acknowledge that love is risky because it goes hand in hand with grief. With a change of heart, we must be ready to experience grief, because we are going to lose at least some of what we love. That’s because there’s an irreversible part of the trajectory we’re on. Allowing love means accepting grief without being incapacitated by despair or hope.

Let your love shine

Cultivating a collective change of heart is the only way we’ll find the energy to make a meaningful difference.

Every time we actively choose to disengage from some aspect of our overconsumptive culture, that is the change of heart—love is the source and the outcome of that choice. Cultivate the change of heart by being willing to risk caring, being willing to demonstrate it, and making community with others who are willing to do the same. That is how we inspire and invite others and nourish the larger cultural movement. It’s time now! Don’t be late!

“The answer to climate change must come from all of us, or it will come from no one.” – Julian Aguon

“If we let ourselves feel this, we will be better for it. We will wake up and reach out and finally tap into our love for one another and our planet.” – Rev. angel Kyodo Williams

“When you fall apart, don’t forget to love the pieces” – Bayo Akomolafe

(These quotes were borrowed from the anthology, Not Too Late, by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua.)

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