大象传媒

We鈥檝e all spent time stuck on a freeway 鈥� a six-lane parking lot with concrete and exhaust fumes extending to the horizon. If we鈥檙e concerned about climate change, those are moments that can push us into despair. Don鈥檛 these people know?

We often forget we鈥檙e right there on the freeway with them.

Now several generations into a fossil-fueled way of life that鈥檚 forgotten the difference between necessity and convenience, we鈥檝e bought the line that the American way of life is not negotiable.

But that鈥檚 never been true. As climate activist Bill McKibben reminds us, when our way of life runs up against physics, there鈥檚 no negotiation 鈥� but it鈥檚 physics, not America, that鈥檚 calling the shots. If we want to leave behind a habitable world, we have only one choice: Leave the carbon in the ground.

How do we do that? We can move to 100 percent renewable energy within 40 years, says Post Carbon Institute researcher Richard Heinberg. We can retrofit our suburbs in ways that minimize sprawl and connect them to vibrant cities. Though our economy now runs entirely on fossil fuels, it鈥檚 worth remembering that it hasn鈥檛 always been that way. We shifted to this economy, and we can shift to a new one. As editor Yessenia Funes discovered in researching her article, the transition to renewables could provide the kind of economy that finally can address poverty and inequality.

We spent a lot of time imagining the world after oil 鈥� and discovered that many of the changes headed our way could improve our lives. And apparently that鈥檚 not a secret, because everywhere we looked, people were living more regionally already. NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus in California explains how giving up airplane travel has not only cut his carbon footprint but kept him closer to home and focused on his community 鈥� and paradoxically enriched his relationship with his parents living in the distant Midwest.

Once we鈥檝e left fossil fuels behind, it becomes possible to bring the planet and all its species back into balance, where Earth鈥檚 natural systems can replenish themselves. That will be the beginning of a new era of recovery, and poet, philosopher, and environmentalist Derrick Jensen describes what that could look like in poignant detail. He calls it 鈥渢he time after.鈥�

It starts simply enough, by getting off the freeway.