Preparing Communities for the Climate Crisis

The more you know about the climate crisis, the harder it is to not be depressed at least some of the time. The challenges ahead are vast and the will to action still small by comparison. So we already know things will get a lot worse because the physics of the climate crisis are cumulative until we manage to reverse the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In addition to working hard on this reversal, what else can one do to feel better?

One answer is to help prepare one’s community for what is coming. And even though we don’t exactly know what that future looks like there would seem to be three crucial areas to invest in over the coming decade:

1. Local Energy

Build out a diverse local energy supply through some combination of solar, wind, biogas, geothermal, and storage. Understand to what degree your local grid could be islanded if need be. If possible tie your assets together on a micro/local grid that you control and that is connected to the main grid only through disconnectable interchange points.

2. Local Food

Figure out what can be grown in the local region to support the people who live there. Often this will mean going back from monoculture to a diverse agricultural and livestock mix. Invest in greenhouses and even containers that allow you to produce year round and in a climate controlled way. Build out water retention landscapes. Store seeds.

3. Local Currency

Develop a local/regional currency. It can be small at first, but it is all about putting the infrastructure in place and getting people used to it.

Now you could look at this list and say: that’s crazy prepper talk. My counter to this is that all three of these are desirable even if we can manage to avoid large scale civilizational collapse. These are all about decentralization and devolution of power. So why not work on them no matter what?