Individual Action Won’t Solve the Climate Crisis

Each year Earth Day activities are centered around individual action. If only we could plant more trees and clean up plastic in the park, we could make a dent in the climate crisis. However, much of the Earth Day propaganda doesn’t address the major drivers of climate change: the fossil fuel industry. 

Without the exploitation of people and our planet, we wouldn’t need a commercial holiday that encourages us to reduce our personal carbon footprint. George Monbiot, writing for The Guardian, calls individual responsibility one of the most significant lies told by the fossil fuel industry. This messaging has helped shape the public’s view on climate change, allowing for them to believe that consumer action is what's needed for the world’s biggest polluters to stop polluting. 

This Earth Day, Building Equity and Alignment for Environmental Justice (BEA) encourages you to place the blame where the blame belongs by creating calls to action throughout the year that holds the fossil fuel industry accountable. We also encourage you to help community-led organizations to build power by investing in these organizations through time, money, and resources. Our planet and our lives depend on it.