It’s Getting Hot In Here

The Re-Energize New Hampshire crew of student organizers keeps chugging here in New Hampshire, despite the soaring temperatures (at least it’s not as hot as down in Atlanta!). As part of the lead up to a five day march later this summer, we’re organizing a fun action coming up just around the corner: Climb it for the Climate.

On July 14, groups of hikers will ascend each of the peaks named after a former president in the White Mountains presidential range. On top of each summit, the groups will take a picture holding a banner honoring their mountain’s namesake: “What would [former president] do? Cut Carbon 80% by 2050!” It’ll be a fun yet powerful message from the top of some of New Hampshire’s most iconic places.

Energy is already building for “Climb It” and we’re hoping that July 14 will be a big success. We’ve already secured some great media coverage from the Boston Globe, NHPR, and others. And each day, another group of hikers is signing up, from a crew of Dartmouth students who are carrying a canoe up Mt. Washington to a couple of “non-hikers” who are excited for their first time up a White Mountain peak. At the same time, we’ve gotten some feedback that an action like Climb It is just plain silly, a waste of time and resources. Do quick, easy to organize, yet a bit silly actions like this work? Or is the fight against global warming too serious to merit actions like this one?

That’s a question that came up for us when we organized Step It Up 2007 this spring. In the weeks leading up to April 14, we got a few emails along the way telling us our time would be better spent doing more militant actions, or perhaps organizing a march on Washington. Hikes up mountains, taking pictures underwater, and dressing up as polar bears (all of these were things our organizers across the country did), weren’t going to make any bit of difference.

And while we still think Step It Up was a big success, there’s some merit in these argument. Not every fight can be won with a flashy, upbeat action for the media. The fight for environmental justice in cities across the country, for example, or the struggle against mountain-top removal in Appalachia (an effort that resonates with us as we plan to hike these protected mountains in New Hampshire), are just two campaigns that require serious grass-roots and community organizing. That’s hard work and often a long haul - and I admire those activists greatly.

Yet, in this diverse and multi-faceted movement, it seems like there’s still more room for ad-hoc, creative, quick, and flashy actions. We’re aiming to spend less than $150 on Climb it for the Climate and most of our work doing outreach, media, and coalition building, plugs directly into our longer term goal of organizing a successful march this August. And with those small investments, we’ll have reached out to citizens across New Hampshire, given people a first taste of global warming activism, had a good time, and gotten some good media coverage along the way.

We’ll also have demonstrated, we hope, that there’s room in this movement for non-professional, informal activists - after all, putting together a hike is a very different beast than planning a full on campaign. It’s something that people around the country could do, from the White Mountains here in New Hampshire to the Rockies out in Colorado.

So, why isn’t more of this happening? For the most part, the environmental movement isn’t structured to support it. The majority of communications from established environmental groups seem to fall into two categories: a) sign this petition and b) sign a check. And local chapters of the Sierra Club and others rarely have the flexibility to throw together quick, flashy actions without going through a bureaucracy of approval. That’s not to say these groups don’t do effective work, they do, but in my opinion they don’t provide enough opportunities for local people to step up and become an organizer in their own right.

Conclusion? Well, I certainly hope you’ll check out Climb it for the Climate and spread the word to people you know in New Hampshire and around. But more important, maybe there’s something you can do this summer, whether it’s climbing up a mountain with a banner and calling it a rally or just dressing up as a polar bear and handing out fliers at your local supermarket. This movement needs organization, coordination, partnerships, paid media campaigns, and millions of dollars, but it also needs regular people standing up, taking a risk, and doing something to help stop this crisis.