Wanted: Superhero To Save A Planet

If no superheroes step up, will you?

Photo by Ayo Ogunseinde on Unsplash

Holy Smokes! Great Caesar’s Ghost! So many superheroes! In the theatres, on the streaming video, running the streets with trick or treat bags. Why, you can hardly cross the street without tripping over Superman, The Eternals, Black Widow, Batman, Spiderman, and more whose names I don’t even know. They’re everywhere – everywhere, that is, except where we really need them.

Friends, we face a monumental crisis – a cataclysmic event that threatens all of humankind. Our home planet (and only planet) is warming up at an accelerating rate. Ice is melting and oceans are rising, threatening to submerge our coastal cities. Fertile food-growing regions are slowly turning into deserts. Millions will starve. Hundreds of millions will migrate in search of new homes.

Who will save us? Why can you never find a superhero when you really need one?

Superpowers Not Required

As if we didn’t already know. Nobody from Krypton or Wakanda or a bat cave can save us. We will have to do it ourselves.

So if you find yourself still looking for a dose of purpose to give your post-career life some meaning, let me humbly suggest the cause of saving the planet. Your grandchildren will thank you.

“Now is the boomers’ chance to reclaim their better, bolder natures and to end their run as it began,” writes Bill McKibben, a leading environmentalist who has written extensively about global warming and received the Gandhi Peace Award in 2013. In other words, we grew up in an age of protest and the nascent beginnings of environmental awakening; there’s no reason we can’t take our extra time and surplus energy to rediscover activism.

In lieu of any superheroes showing up any time soon, drape your cape and grab your mask – everyone has masks, right? – and gear yourself up for some heroics.

Elders and Environment

Many environmental organizations do excellent work, but I want to single out one that is specifically geared to our demographic. Elders Climate Action (ECA) is “committed to a non-partisan effort to end the Climate Crisis and build a just and sustainable future for our children, our grandchildren, and all children.” ECA works to force governments to change climate policy through collective action.

The action takes a variety of forms. One initiative is Elders Promote the Vote, which aims to convert “inconsistent” voters into consistent supporters of climate policy changes in every election. The Letters to Loved Ones in 2050 asks volunteers to write letters to their descendants in the future and to make a commitment now to ensure that their descendants have a safe, healthy world. There are also letter-writing campaigns to Congress and local action teams (in many states) that organize activities in their communities.

For a taste of what ECA is about, you can view The Climate Activist Toolkit, a three-video series that introduces you to three tools for change: meeting with elected officials, telling personal stories, and writing.

ECA is affiliated with Elders Action Network, which also provides volunteer opportunities in such areas as defending democracy, opposing racial and ethnic injustice, and sustainable practices. (FAIR WARNING: Once these were considered mainstream American concerns, but in our hyper-partisan political environment many people view these as concerns  exclusively of the left. You decide.) EAN also produces a monthly newsletter, Elder Wisdom, and a journal of writings from members.

Of course there are many more outstanding local and national organizations whose work may connect well with your sense of purpose, including the AARP’s Experience Corps, which I wrote about earlier this year.

But none is more critical to the future of our children and grandchildren than global warming.

Our planet really needs a lot of help. You just may be  the superhero it’s been waiting for.

New Podcast

A new podcast launched today for your enjoyment. (Check your email.) It features Stephanie O’Dell, whose modeling agency, Celebrate the Gray, is forcing fashion marketers to rethink their assumptions about older women. Also there’s a new essay by Susie Kaufman on surprising places to find the voice of prophecy. Do give a listen.