Older Voters Know Exactly What’s at Stake, and They’ll Be Here for Quite a While
Bill McKibben and Akaya Windwood
January 22, 2023
New York Times
Older Voters Know Exactly What’s at Stake, and They’ll Be Here for Quite a While
https://portside.org/2023-01-26/older-voters-know-exactly-whats-stake-and-theyll-be-here-quite-while
The founders of the group Third Act.
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Third Act newsletter, for information. I suggest you put yourself on its mailing list.
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Third Act – Sacramento
I recently got into an argument with an older relative over whose generation – hers or mine – should shoulder the monumental task of mitigating climate change. Her activist days are over, she said; now it’s up to her nieces, nephews and grandkids to save the planet. I couldn’t disagree more. This relative is well into retirement and has time for advocacy work that I don’t, financial capital that I don’t, and, importantly, generational responsibility for polluting the planet and leaving young folks like me to deal with the mess. But one spirited and hopeful group of older people in Sacramento agrees with me – and they’re doing everything in their power to slow climate change.
Launched last month, Sacramento’s Third Act working group already has 28 members showing up to monthly virtual meetings. OPINION Third Act is a national organization cofounded by the author and environmentalist Bill McKibben and activist Vanessa Arcara, with celebrity supporters including Jane Fonda and Bette Midler. The group’s philosophy is that baby boomers have the time, money, experience and know-how to fight climate change. Boomers control 70% of the nation’s wealth; are 50% more likely to vote than those aged 18 to 29; and spend an average of five hours a day watching TV.
“This is a way to mobilize my generation, most of whom in Sacramento are sitting watching TV or listening to the radio, feeling powerless and wondering what they can do,” said Pat Ferris, a facilitator of the Sacramento working group. “This fabulous group has the power to get us engaged – to have some fun and feel like we have some agency.”
. Many Third Act members are not new to activism. They may have protested the Vietnam War or participated in the civil rights or women’s rights movement. Third Act, a group specifically for folks over the age of 60, recognizes that just as the social movements of the ’60s and ’70s were led by younger generations, so is the current climate movement. The group believes its role is to support youth climate organizations such as the Sunrise Movement and Fridays for Future. “It’s not fair to ask the young to save the world themselves, nor is it possible,” McKibben and Third Act lead adviser Akaya Windwood wrote in a 2021 Los Angeles Times op-ed. “We emerge into our latter years with talents, wisdom and often with the money to put them to use. Our children and grandchildren should help focus us on the fact that if we don’t act now, we may leave the world a worse place than we found it.”
THIRD ACT SACRAMENTO Sacramento facilitators Ferris and Laurie Litman have wholeheartedly committed the third acts of their own lives – post-retirement – to climate activism. Both worry about the futures their children and grandchildren will face. Litman says the fact that young people have inherited a planet polluted by older generations is “an intergenerational injustice.” “This is the most important thing people my age can be doing,” Litman said. “We overconsumed. We’ve taken a lot, and now we’re leaving a depauperate future for our kids.” $2 for 2 months Subscribe for unlimited access to our website, app, eEdition and more CLAIM OFFER Third Act member Anne Stausboll, who formerly chaired Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s Commission on Climate Change, said that instead of resorting to climate “doomerism,” Third Act members choose to hope that our climate future is not yet set in stone. “Everything is infused with optimism and hope, and we need hope to move forward,” Stausboll said. BANKING PLEDGE Don’t think, however, that Third Act members lack a plan. Their meetings are not therapy sessions; they are devoted to strategy. For example, Third Act’s national group launched a calculated, ingenious banking pledge that uses the enormous capital of its members to maximize their impact. Four of the nation’s biggest banks – Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America – have loaned the fossil fuel industry a trillion dollars since the 2015 Paris Climate Accords were signed. If the financial services industry were a nation, it would be the fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. To pressure the big banks to divest from the industries killing our planet and population, Third Act is calling on everyone to sign one of two pledges: Current Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America customers can sign one stating that if their bank does not stop lending money to the fossil fuel industry by Dec. 31, 2022, they will pull their money out. People who do not bank with any of the four can pledge that they will never become customers so long as they continue to loan money to polluters. If everyone who signs the first pledge pulls their money from the banks at the same time, the impact could be enormous.
“Individual action is important, but it’s not enough,” Ferris said. “When we’re up against fossil-fuel-funded politicians and corporations, we need to take collective action.” Sacramento’s working group also wants to focus on advocacy at the local level, serving as a watchdog for the city’s budget committees and joining forces with other activists.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY In addition to climate change mitigation, Third Act has a second colossal goal: Protecting and defending America’s democracy. The group is focused on fighting voter suppression, strengthening voting rights, and increasing voter participation. The two goals, climate and voter advocacy, go hand in hand. “We need to stabilize our democracy and our climate,” Litman said. “We need both – we can’t do one without the other.” Sacramento’s Third Act working group is still in its early days, but as it grows, so does excitement about the future. The group meets virtually on the third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. and anyone who lives in or around the Sacramento region is encouraged to get involved by emailing thirdactsac@gmail.com. Fighting a planetary crisis on a personal scale can feel futile. But people of every generation must do everything in our power to ensure a livable future.
Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article259152778.html#storylink=cpy
