“The Empathic Civilization is emerging. We are fast extending our empathic embrace to the whole of humanity and the vast project of life that envelops the planet. But our rush to universal empathic connectivity is running up against a rapidly accelerating entropic juggernaut in the form of climate change … Can we reach biosphere consciousness and global empathy in time to avert planetary collapse?

Jeremy Rifkin, “The Empathic Civilization: the Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis”

“We’ll need chief among all things, to get smaller and less centralized, to focus not on growth but on maintenance, on a controlled decline from the perilous heights to which we’ve climbed.”

Bill McKibben, “Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet’

It’s the myriad voices and actions that are now coming together to create the difference between relentlessly pushing our planet’s biosphere towards a collapsed, unrecognizable place and forging a balanced ecologically sustainable Earth that makes our times so fraught with anticipation.  Bill McKibben, arguably the most influential Nature activist in the world, has written a book called “Eaarth” with two a’s signifying the massive changes that are now moving our planet towards a terrifying and perhaps uninhabitable new ‘Eaarth’. Will we have to redefine the very basis of humanity’s existence on this planet, and therefore should we call it by a new name? Bill tells us that the planet has already changed and that we must take action now so creative steps find strength in worldwide collective grassroots efforts.

There is good news. While attending a climate action meeting for two days last month it came to light that a new poll tells Canadians that 48 percent of us believe the climate issue to be very important and very urgent to solve, while 80 percent of Canadians feel that humans are at least partly responsible.  It’s when we get to the age groups and genders that climate activists know where the work is cut out for them: 54 percent of women and 45 percent of men under 35 believe that climate change is caused primarily by human activity and it is only in the last two years that most young women have become involved In working for a climate solution.  Unfortunately a majority of men between the ages of 35-54 did not feel it was very important for the world to find solutions to climate change. Strategies to work more diligently with already involved women to instill faster change in the population are a priority.

Our community is answering the call to work on finding solutions enabling a more resilient planet. The arrival of author Mike Nickerson in Collingwood last week was met with excitement. His book,” Life, Money and Illusion: Living on Earth as if We Want to Stay” is already in its second printing. He asks,” Might the goal of sustainability serve the needs of humankind better than the goal of perpetual economic expansion?” Mike met with Collingwood Collegiate students and then with members of the Transition Town group that is dedicated to bringing about the localization of food production and the reskilling of young and old to better be able to live in a world without globalization, and where the community becomes more self-reliant.  Earlier in the week a group of citizens started the Collingwood Food Alliance.  It’s first two initiatives is to bring about the wide spread use of our new community garden and to bring back local farmers to the Saturday morning market.

Next week brings climate justice groups to Toronto on November 13-14.  In September, 850 people came to hear James Hansen, the climate scientist from NASA, speak at University of Toronto. The grassroots movement is gaining momentum and it’s ready to change status quo destructive politics and corporate agendas forever.  Join us.