Isaias Hernandez – guest edition!

EU carbon emissions hit record low, disinformation in schools, and finding your climate group

One of my favorite aspects of social media is its ability to connect us with people who not only share our concerns—like climate change—but also inspire us with fresh perspectives and ideas. Take Isaias Hernandez, for instance. I often find myself shouting "YES!" before sharing his posts.

Why? Because, like me, he's one hundred percent committed to being as effective and authentic as possible in communicating both the risks and injustices of climate change, as well as the courageous hope we need.

Whether it's through educational videos explaining the messy truth about carbon footprints, or Instagram reels on how to respond to the nearly 50% of young people who feel humanity is doomed, his content addresses many of the questions and concerns people have today and helps them understand what each one of us can do to make a difference.

Take it away, Isaias!

GOOD NEWS

Carbon emissions in the European Union have fallen to their lowest level in 60 years! The decline is driven by a shift towards cleaner sources of electricity, including growing wind and solar capacity.

To turn this decline into a global trend, a new report from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit says, we need four things. First, the EU must continue to cut energy demand through efficiency and even more clean energy. Second, India needs to secure funding to replace their planned coal expansion with solar. Next, China must continue to roll out new renewables faster than anyone else. And lastly, the US Inflation Reduction Act needs to keep driving private investment in the solar, efficiency, and EV markets.

Standing against this progress are the world’s fossil fuel interests. Many companies continue to promote “discourses of delay,” as this article explains, including “creating the appearance of investing in low-carbon solutions while, in reality, the industry expands fossil fuel production and carries on with obstruction of meaningful climate policy.” In recent months, oil and gas CEOs have publicly blamed consumers for climate change and claimed that phasing out fossil fuels is a fantasy. Despite this, the European Union has already reduced their emissions substantially.

We deserve to hear stories like this that inspire evidence-based hope and remind us that crucial progress is being made toward a future free of fossil fuels. We cannot have environmental justice without ceasing to depend on fossil fuels.

NOT-SO-GOOD NEWS

The Florida Department of Education has approved the use of so-called "educational" videos developed by the Prager University Foundation in schools. (I have harbored concerns about this organization for years, ever since YouTube began automatically playing one of their videos—designed to spread misinformation on climate change and clean energy—right after every Global Weirding episode I made. PragerU, named after its founder, radio show host Dennis Prager, was established to "change minds through digital information" and is not affiliated with any actual educational institution. -KH)

One such video, a nine-minute animation titled Poland: Ania’s Energy Crisis, is chock full of climate-denial talking points. “In it, the central character, Ania, questions the climate science she’s taught in school and grows concerned about rising energy costs due to a ban on coal in her home country of Poland. She wonders whether renewables can provide the country with enough energy, and loses friends over her beliefs,” this article explains.

Kristina Dahl, the principal climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, says the videos are dishonest. “I find something like this, that seems to be deliberately misleading kids about how we’re going to solve climate change, to be really dangerous,” she said.

As an environmental educator, what’s happening in Florida is painful to me. There are kids who will be left unprepared and misled. We need to prepare future generations for the reality of climate change and empower them to have bold new careers, but fossil fuel and private interests have bought out educational institutions. It’s hard to tell how much damage these videos will do.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Tackling complex, systemic issues is not a solitary task. Make an effort to meet other people who are actively working on climate solutions. We thrive when we connect and collaborate in community with one another—and that’s essential to the fight against climate change. You owe it to yourself to hear from and meet people that care as much as you do!

As I say here, if you don’t rest or build relationships — you start to lose those human components that we need. Striving away from isolationism is the best thing you can do in the climate movement.

That’s why I started my organization, Queer Brown Vegan, so I could collaborate with individuals and organizations working on solutions. For example, I make videos with Amazon Watch, a non-profit dedicated to supporting indigenous communities in the Amazon and protecting the rainforest they call home. This collaboration amplifies our collective impact and broadens our reach.

Joining a group can empower you and magnify your efforts. Whatever your specific interests, there's a climate action group out there for you. If you’re passionate about climate justice, like I am, I recommend The Solutions Project. They "fund and amplify climate justice solutions created by Black, Indigenous, immigrant, women and communities of color building an equitable world," according to their mission statement.

(For more ideas of groups to join, visit my website. I curate a comprehensive and ever-growing list of climate organizations there, organized by theme (parents, young people, sports, faith and more), and I’m always adding to it based on your suggestions! -KH)

At first glance, Isaias and I might seem like complete opposites. He's known as Queer Brown Vegan on social media and his educational platform, while I could be accurately described as a Straight White Omnivore.

Despite our differences in backgrounds and perspectives, though, as you can see above, we are united in our perspectives on climate change. We agree that the demand for systemic change can co-exist with personal action, and everyone’s input matters; that maintaining evidence-based hope is crucial; and that climate change is fundamentally a justice issue, with already marginalized communities facing the greatest impacts.

So I want to leave you with this question: how much could we accomplish together if we focused on what unites us rather than what divides us?

Want to see more from Isaias? Check out his blog and YouTube channel! There’s lots to look through, and for more, find him on social media @queerbrownvegan on Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest and more.

Fri., May 3 at 6pm and 7:30pm CT - Science by the Glass with the TTU Climate Center - in person at Nashwell Café in Lubbock, TX