A reader wrote to ask me for the source of a quotation of mine she had found online, floating around in the social media universe. When I read the quote, I couldn't recall where it had appeared. Finally I tracked it down to the splendid website, Grist.org, whose staff had written to me and to a number of other writers and environmentalists in the aftermath of the 2004 election. Grist wanted to know my reaction to the news that George W. Bush and the Republican Party would be given four more years to thwart efforts at curbing global heating and to undo environmental protections. Here's what I wrote in response:

We need to resist attacks on air, soil, water, and wild lands. But we also need to change our culture, not just our leaders and technology. We need to speak out and act for more conserving, more sustainable, more peaceful, and more just practices in our homes, our workplaces, our schools, and our public assemblies. We must refuse to shut up, refuse to give up, in the face of corporate consumerism and a mass culture peddling the narcotics of entertainment. We need to articulate and demonstrate a more decent and joyous way of life.

It was posted on Grist.org on Nov 4, 2004. I still embrace everything I wrote here, with an even greater sense of urgency.