How I Became A Climate Activist

GUEST POST by MOLLY SCHEN

I’m coming to climate activism pretty late in life, in my early sixties. I’m no Greta Thunberg. But I can’t stay on the sidelines any longer. I am dismayed by the frequency of severe weather events—floods, fires, droughts, and storms. And I cannot ignore my own lived experience of hotter summers, milder winters, and species change (no popcorn shrimp?! no frogs?! an influx of ticks!).

The alarm bells have been going off for a while. My reading of science and history confirm that alarm is merited. We are seeing the onset of human-caused climate change. It’s intense already, and it’s bound to get worse.

The 2019 horrific California wildfires were a consequence of climate change

What did it take for me to shift from being a bystander to being an activist? I’m shocked at how much information and awareness and conscience-pricking and TIME it has taken. I remember:

• exhortations to protect habitat from my 4^th grade teacher 

• “Save the Whales” stickers on Volkswagen Beetle bumpers and college kids’ notebooks

• learning about dangerous chemicals from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring

And yet– The forces of big industry and government seemed so massive. What could my voice, my signature on a petition, my sign-waving—what could these possibly amount to?

Furthermore, I was busy going to graduate school and teaching. My vision was for a more student-centered, democratic classroom. The purpose of schooling was for students to gain knowledge and critical thinking to engage in civic life.  In hindsight, I don’t think I looked in the mirror to apply that purpose to myself.

Then—the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound in 1989, spilling 11 million gallons of oil and fouling over a thousand miles of shoreline. It brought me up short. I remember feeling shocked. Panicked. My heart was in my throat when I picked up the telephone to call my father. My father had been an Exxon plant manager for his entire career. He was a one-company man, loyal to Exxon through and through. Our family’s indebtedness to Exxon went very deep. The company gave us a pretty great life.

Cleaning up after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, March, 29, 1989 (The Guardian)

What would Dad say? I recall that Dad took the spill seriously, but chalked it up to an incompetent, drunk captain. It was a terrible, tragic accident. He made it clear that he did not want to continue to talk about it. When he died, eight years after the spill, I realized that we never did bring it up again.

Fast forward to today, twenty-five years later: My questions would have been much more pointed to my father. “Dad, what did you know, and when did you know it?”

I’d really like to know about those reports that came out in Exxon boardrooms in the 1970s. In those years I was mildly wondering about habitat loss, endangered species, and pollution… but I should’ve been galvanized about the known effects of burning fossil fuels. All of us should’ve been. But we were duped.

Graph depicting that Exxon scientists predicted with alarming accuracy the effect fossil fuels would have on the planet

I could grow really depressed about the deceptions of the oil industry, about the probability that we will hit a critical 1.5 degree warming from pre-industrial levels. Yes, I have been paralyzed by fear and doomism at times. My strategy is to figure out how to rebound more quickly and with resilience from those dark thoughts.

It’s been such a help to have been in a book group about climate change—and to have the just-right course, “From Climate Doom to Hope,” when I needed it. When the question came, “What can I do?” the answers came fast and furious, and again, just at the right time.

Third Act Maine protesting against the big banks that fund fossil fuel companies, Portland, March 21, 2023

I’m choosing to get active out of love for this miracle of a planet.

And funny thing: it is Exxon money that has allowed me to retire early so I can focus on climate justice!

For more information about Third Act, go to ThirdAct.org. To join Third Act Maine, email, thirdactmaine@gmail.com.

Molly Schen, Ed.D., has had a rewarding career in schools and nonprofits, with “thoughtfulness” (kindness and critical thinking) as her touchstone. She currently serves on the school board in South Portland. Lifelong interests in literature, music, and the visual arts keep her busy in several book groups, in choral singing and in trips to art galleries and museums. Her newfound passion for climate justice has led her to Third Act. She is active in the state chapter, Third Act Maine.