Introducing the Climate Abundant Life
Over my two years of writing regularly on climate change, I’ve come to realize that we need to go further than just report the news, argue about the right approach, or collapse into a doomsday depression. Newsletters, websites, and activists all around us accomplish those goals effectively, and mimicking those is neither helpful nor fun.
But in these two years, I have also realized something tremendous: The best solutions to climate change also make our lives better, more fun, and more abundant. On a grand scale, we all want the Earth to survive and thrive. And on a personal level, we all want to live good lives filled with joy, rich experiences, and enough financial success to give us the time to enjoy our lives, whatever that may mean for us. Here's the kicker: They go together! When we take action to reduce carbon and GHG emissions in our personal lives, we engender an abundance of time and money. The quality of our activity changes, too.
You see, we have two realities emerging into our lives. First, we all want to live better, more beautifully, and more abundantly. Second, we want to participate in the solutions for climate change. The conviction that sets this newsletter apart is that both are attainable in what Mary Oliver once called, “this one wild and precious life.”
The path forward is the idea of the climate abundant life. Climate because at this time in history, we must all contribute what we can in our situation to solving the climate crisis. History has forced us here, just as other times of history forced other crises and reckonings. We need to deal with it. Abundant because we still want to live well—with enough time, money, and resources to undertake the lives we seek. We want to enjoy the plenty of the world. We want to live in its abundance. Life because we seek vitality, joy, and engagement with what life can be. All three come together.
And so, I introduce The Climate Abundant Life. Whether you are an entrepreneur, retiree, pedestrian urbanite, self-sufficient homesteader, business owner, or regular person working your life in the suburbs, you can live a good life and radically reduce your carbon output. In fact, reducing your carbon output is most often a very good financial deal and it will also save you time. We are going to explore how in this newsletter.
Every post will provide real information to help you craft a life that is abundant, joyful, financially successful, and carbon-free.
If you run a business, you will be more successful and more competitive adopting a climate abundant life approach.
If you run a household, it will be happier and richer with a climate abundant life approach.
If you are retired (or nearing retirement) you can have a better retirement through a climate abundant life.
If you are an entrepreneur, you have a unique opportunity to craft a life of abundance that is carbon-free by applying the principles and ideas of the climate abundant life.
If you are working your career, the climate abundant life will enhance your success and guide you to higher earnings that make a difference.
Do you see what sets apart this newsletter and blog? It’s about you. And it is about everyone else who is concerned about climate change. People who are concerned about climate change also want to live a happy life. And over my two years of writing on climate change, I have found that the thing that stops most people from moving forward on climate-related action is the perception that their lives will get worse when they do so—more expensive, more difficult, more time consuming, or less free. The reality is the exact opposite, but not enough people realize that. That’s why I am writing this newsletter. I want you and our other readers to understand that a climate-friendly life is also a more abundant, more enjoyable life.
To achieve this, posts will focus on choices, behaviors, and actions you can take, their impact on your finances, their impact on your time and quality of life, and their impact on carbon and GHG emissions. The goal is to help you find the climate actions you can take that cut emissions, improve your life, improve your finances, and make you a happier person. Let’s set out on this journey together.
