Ask the Author: Erik Curren
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Erik Curren
Since I was a kid I've been interested in both the environment and history. But I've been frustrated on the environment side by the criminal inaction of America against climate change, the greatest threat that human civilization has ever faced.
Meanwhile, recently, on the history side, I've gotten into the American Revolution.
Wearing a George Washington costume around, I've discovered that Americans of all kinds seem to love the story of our nation's founding era. So, I started to wonder...might there be some way to tap into the appeal of 1776 to get more Americans to care today about climate change?
The answer that appeared to me was to equate the American Revolution from the storied past to today's clean energy revolution, led by rooftop solar power. And it seemed to me that while in 1776 nothing was more patriotic than to fight for freedom, today nothing could be more patriotic than to fight for a safe climate, and that, through energy freedom.
So, with "The Solar Patriot" I hope to add some inspiration into the discussion on climate and energy, a discussion which has been a bit dry up till now. For Americans to really get interested in climate action, I think we need fewer statistics about parts per million of CO2 or even animals like polar bears and more stories about people.
And those people need to be Americans. We are a generous nation at our best, but few Americans care enough about people in Bangladesh or the Marshall Islands to take serious action in our own lives and in politics at the national, state or local levels. To get America into action, we need climate change to be more than a "global" problem -- we need our citizens to see climate as an American problem.
Meanwhile, recently, on the history side, I've gotten into the American Revolution.
Wearing a George Washington costume around, I've discovered that Americans of all kinds seem to love the story of our nation's founding era. So, I started to wonder...might there be some way to tap into the appeal of 1776 to get more Americans to care today about climate change?
The answer that appeared to me was to equate the American Revolution from the storied past to today's clean energy revolution, led by rooftop solar power. And it seemed to me that while in 1776 nothing was more patriotic than to fight for freedom, today nothing could be more patriotic than to fight for a safe climate, and that, through energy freedom.
So, with "The Solar Patriot" I hope to add some inspiration into the discussion on climate and energy, a discussion which has been a bit dry up till now. For Americans to really get interested in climate action, I think we need fewer statistics about parts per million of CO2 or even animals like polar bears and more stories about people.
And those people need to be Americans. We are a generous nation at our best, but few Americans care enough about people in Bangladesh or the Marshall Islands to take serious action in our own lives and in politics at the national, state or local levels. To get America into action, we need climate change to be more than a "global" problem -- we need our citizens to see climate as an American problem.
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