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Saving the Planet: Intergenerational Climate Action w/ Samuel Rubin & Frances Stewart
Episode 134 • 20th March 2023 • Boomer Banter, Real Talk about Aging Well • Wendy Green
00:00:00 00:49:35

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"We have to do everything we can to avoid exceeding the 1.5 degrees temperature increase right now. According to the IPCC report, that is projected to happen in less than ten years, if we keep at the current pace. We have to do everything possible to reduce emissions and change the energy supply - it's not too late to save the planet!" ~ Samuel Rubin

That was the message of my conversation with Dr. Frances Stewart and Social Impact Producer Samuel Rubin.

From different generations, Samuel and Frances are deeply involved in climate action. Frances is the co-chair of education for EldersClimateAction.org. Samuel is a Social Impact Producer and Innovation Fellow at CoGenerate, leveraging the power of storytelling to activate and educate audiences for climate action.

Fascinating insights about working across generations, building community, building empathy, recognizing the value of all generations in addressing the climate crisis.

"Many people don't get involved because they are discouraged. They feel like this is a hill we can't climb. But there is so much we can do, if we work together." ~ Frances Stewart

Takeaways and Actions you can take now:

  1. Look for tax credits and rebates to make homes more energy efficient.
  2. VOTE!
  3. Find one or more groups you can work with.
  4. Email your congresspeople, local representatives, governor, president.
  5. Join EldersClimateAction.org
  6. Realize it's not hopeless and you are not powerless
  7. Visit CanYouHearUs.org & find the Intergenerational Discussion Guide
  8. GET INVOLVED.

Resources:

EldersClimateAction.org

Frances.Stewart6@gmail.com

CanYouHearUs.org

impact@samuelrubin.net

ThirdAct.org

kidney4adam@gmail.com

Connect with me:

wendy@heyboomer.biz

https://heyboomer.biz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyboomerpodcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heyboomerpodcast

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HeyBoomer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-green-cpc-heyboomerlive/

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating.

Transcripts

Wendy Green:

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And welcome to the Hey Boomer show.

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The show for those of us who believe that we are never too old to set another goal or

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dream a new dream.

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My name is Wendy Green and I am your host for Hey, Boomer.

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Today we're going to be talking about climate activism and we will be looking at it

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through the lens of collaboration between generations.

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Coincidentally, the IPCC, which is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,

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it's the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.

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Has released a new report today.

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And at 2:00, they are going to be live streaming a press conference to go over their

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findings in that report.

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And so I learned about this two ways.

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My guests told me about it a few days ago, and I heard about it on NPR this morning.

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So maybe it's not a coincidence that we have Samuel and Frances on Hey, Boomer today.

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Samuel Rubin co-founded Yay!

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Impact, a social impact agency rooted in the power of grassroots community organizing and

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storytelling and the Hollywood Climate Summit, an international annual gathering

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that fosters multigenerational and youth led, story driven efforts to showcase

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environmental action in the entertainment industry.

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Samuel was born and raised in Barcelona, Spain, and he began producing films to ignite

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positive change.

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He has overseen campaigns such as Can You Hear Us?

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For Hulu's I Am Greta Show, a documentary and previously youth v gov on Netflix.

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Samuel is active in the film and TV industry and has been included in the 2022 Greatest 50

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Fixers list for his role in flipping the script on climate change within Hollywood.

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He also received the CoGenerate Innovation Fellowship for his intergenerational field

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building with the Hollywood Climate Summit.

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Frances Stewart is a physician, a retired US Navy captain and a veteran climate

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campaigner. She serves as the co-chair of the Education Committee for

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EldersClimateAction.org. She is a chapter chair and mentor for Climate Reality and the

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policy director for Climate Action Now.

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She is an EnRoads climate ambassador and an environmental voter project volunteer.

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Francis is very much the scientist, and I look forward to hearing both perspectives as

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we go into this show.

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But before I bring them on, just a couple of things that I wanted to mention.

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I want to invite you to the Boomer Banter.

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The Boomer Banter is a monthly gathering that we get together as a community to talk

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about topics that are of interest to everybody in the in the boomer community.

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We laugh, we connect.

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We share insights.

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We have conversations.

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We go into breakout rooms to have intimate conversations.

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We come back to the main room and it meets monthly on the third Tuesday of every month.

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So the next banter is going to be tomorrow evening from 630 to 730 Eastern Time.

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And we look forward to inviting all of you to join us.

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So if you're interested in becoming part of the banter, it is a membership group and I am

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giving you the opportunity to join us at no cost this Tuesday if you'd like to try it

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out. So just drop me an email at Wendy@HeyBoomer.Biz and I'll send you the

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private link to our Zoom meeting and you can have a fun conversation.

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Oh, we're talking about humor.

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That's what we're talking about. Tomorrow.

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Okay, one more thing.

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I met somebody this weekend who is looking for a kidney donor.

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Now, I have a cousin that received a kidney from a stranger because they just felt like

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that was the right thing to do.

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And the person I met, Adam Lough, is also looking for somebody who might graciously and

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feel driven, whatever feel led to donate a kidney.

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If you think that you might be interested in finding out more, finding out if you might be

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a qualified donor for Adam, you can email kidney4Adam@gmail.com.

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And we would all be very grateful, obviously.

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But Adam, more than any of us, for him to find the kidney that he needs to continue

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living a a healthy life.

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So that's kidney4Adam@gmail.com.

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Okay. And with that, I am going to bring Samuel and Frances on to the show.

Wendy Green:

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And thank you very much for joining us today, Samuel and Frances, I'm so glad to

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have you here.

Frances Stewart:

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It's great to be here

Samuel Rubin:

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Thank you for having us.

Samuel Rubin:

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Yes.

Wendy Green:

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So I mentioned that the ICC has just released their report.

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And Samuel, you said you had had a chance to look at it.

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Would you give us, without getting too technical, a brief overview of what we could

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look for in this report?

Samuel Rubin:

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Yes, absolutely.

Samuel Rubin:

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And I want to also emphasize that the IPCC report in itself is the result of a making

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collaborative process among hundreds of scientists and climate experts from all over

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the world, some of them who have years of experience, decades of experience.

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So the process in itself is also very intergenerational.

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And today's assessment release is the sixth chapter chapter.

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So to say that they have released in 2018 and the IPCC report is not theoretical, is

Samuel Rubin:

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very factual, is very practical, and it's a compilation of all the different scientific

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findings that the group of scientists have located all over the world.

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So for this release, the biggest highlight is that we are running out of time to make

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sure that we save the planet and avoid the collapse of many different species that right

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now are in risk of extinction.

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It's not a positive headline.

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It's unfortunate that human events and actions have taken us where we are right now,

Samuel Rubin:

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but there is still a small fraction of opportunity to revert the current course.

Samuel Rubin:

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Since the beginning of the century, according to the report, temperatures have

Samuel Rubin:

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risen already 1.1.

Samuel Rubin:

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And as we all know, we have to make everything we can to avoid exceeding the 1.5

Samuel Rubin:

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degrees increase right now, according to the report that is expected and projected to

Samuel Rubin:

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happen in less than ten years.

Samuel Rubin:

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If we keep at the current pace, which is why we have to do everything possible to reduce

Samuel Rubin:

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emissions and change the energetic supply.

Wendy Green:

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Thank you. And I think that's the you know, I don't think I know that's part of the reason

Wendy Green:

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I wanted us all to get together today as an intergenerational conversation, because, you

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know, it can't just be the boomers or the older adults that are doing the work.

Wendy Green:

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It can't just be the younger people that are making the noise.

Wendy Green:

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So, Frances, tell me about your work and how this has been an intergenerational effort to

Wendy Green:

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try and save our planet.

Frances Stewart:

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A lot of the work that I do, although not all of it, is with elders, climate action and

Frances Stewart:

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elders. Climate action is nationwide in the US and we do a lot of work that's

Frances Stewart:

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intergenerational. One of our key partners in that is Moms Clean Air Force.

Frances Stewart:

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That gives us an opportunity to work with with parents because their dads and moms

Frances Stewart:

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clean air force to and with kids of all ages.

Frances Stewart:

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The youngest child I've worked with so far was 18 months old.

Frances Stewart:

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So did some advocacy up on the Hill with a advocacy team with two two

Frances Stewart:

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moms on 18 month old to high school students and to members.

Frances Stewart:

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So we made quite a team.

Frances Stewart:

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But there are lots of opportunities.

Frances Stewart:

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You know, when we have a college student intern to work with, when we are working with

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with with local groups, there are lots of opportunities for collaboration there.

Frances Stewart:

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We also collaborate with groups through us.

Frances Stewart:

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Can the US Climate Action Network and there are all sorts of groups in US can, but youth

Frances Stewart:

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are very well represented in that and that gives us a lot of opportunities to do things

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like during COVID, it was difficult for people to do things like the Fridays for the

Frances Stewart:

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Future Strikes and particularly that was a concern for elders who were going to be more

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susceptible to serious COVID infections.

Frances Stewart:

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So we were one of the groups that did the shoe strike where you basically put out shoes

Frances Stewart:

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to to represent the people who would be out there filling those shoes if it wasn't for

Frances Stewart:

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social distancing from COVID.

Wendy Green:

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Mm That's that's interesting.

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I hadn't heard of that one. Samuel you've done a lot of work.

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Co generational work, and that's why you kind of got this fellowship.

Wendy Green:

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Can you tell us some about what your work has been focused on?

Samuel Rubin:

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Yeah, well, I think I'm currently 27 and I grew up as a child actor, so since I was very

Samuel Rubin:

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young, I always was surrounded by older folks.

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And later on I started producing at age 16.

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So I had to leverage those multi-generational relational skills to fund,

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develop and get support for the projects and initiatives that I was involved.

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And so for over a decade, I have been supporting various youth led organizations in

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the entertainment industry with the aim of uplifting, diverse creators and equip them

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with the tools and resources to distribute and create their stories.

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And I think that that process in itself needs to be inherently intergenerational and

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it needs to uplift and raise awareness of our environmental crisis and why this affects

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all of us. And it's an intersectional issue that is interconnected with so many other

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issues and themes that we so deeply care about, like gender justice, racial justice

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and so forth. And so as a social impact producer, I specialize in leveraging the

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power of storytelling, in activating and educating and mobilizing audiences for

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different issues, including climate action.

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But that wouldn't be possible without the use of intergenerational efforts and the

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support of so many organizations who are bringing age diverse communities together,

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like Cogenerate, which provided me with a research fellowship and a cohort with another

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14 amazing individuals of all ages, many of them who have been in your show who are doing

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various initiatives with the aim of improving social justice, improving social

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impact with the use of intergenerational strategies.

Wendy Green:

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So why do you Think it has been such a challenge to bring the different generations

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together? The climate crisis affects all of us and and yet it seems like.

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You know, there's there's there's blame going on on each from each end of the

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generations. What what do you think is some of the challenges and how do we overcome

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those? Francis, do you want to start?

Frances Stewart:

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I think part of it is that there's so much going on that people who are, you know, aware

Frances Stewart:

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of, of social and environmental issues may find it hard to to know where to start or

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where to focus.

Frances Stewart:

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And then there are a lot of people of all generations, but particularly older people

Frances Stewart:

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who just are focused on their day to day lives sometimes because their day to day

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lives are are very difficult.

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They're having health problems, financial problems, you know, a whole host of things

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sometimes just because that's what they're used to doing, that maybe they thought that

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when you got to a certain stage in life, that's what you did.

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So that helping people expand their horizons a little bit and also finding, you know,

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things that they can do because it's pretty easy to look at the state of the world and

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go, okay, this is totally hosed.

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I think I'm going to play pinnacle or hide under the bed.

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But to, you know, come up with things that, you know, will make a difference and that are

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practical and people to do them with that.

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No individual I don't care if you're Bill Gates or the Dalai Lama or the secretary of

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the U.N. or Joe Biden or whoever.

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No one person or no one very small group of people could possibly solve the climate

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crisis. But, you know, many of us together and it doesn't have to be anywhere near

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everybody. I mean, the certainly the data we have on social movements suggests that about

Frances Stewart:

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maybe 3.5% of people, which is a lot of people, but that's a whole lot less than

Frances Stewart:

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100%. That small percentage can make a huge difference.

Wendy Green:

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Yeah. And you know, I'm sorry to hear you say that A lot of people feel like they can't

Wendy Green:

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make a difference because that's a lot of what this show is about, you know, finding

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ways to make a difference and I think being involved.

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So, Samuel, what do you see as some of the challenges of bringing the generations

Wendy Green:

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together to talk about climate, which is our issue today?

Samuel Rubin:

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Yes, I think that, you know, intergenerational dynamics are challenging

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because they replicate the power structure that we are familiar with.

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I mean, we all in this planet have parents that is not a single person in this planet

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that hasn't had, you know, biological parents.

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And even if they don't have a traditional familial structure, they will see someone as

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a paternal figure or even the lack of thereof will cause an intergenerational

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dynamic that is unique.

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And same with educators.

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You know, the majority of us have been schooled by teachers who are of different

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ages. And so there is a lot of studies that prove that when we when we think of

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intergenerational dynamics, our relationship with our parents, our relationship with our

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educators greatly influence and impact, how are we going to be able to cooperate with

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different people of all ages throughout our lifetime?

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And then that happens again in the workplace.

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It happens again in community organizing, and we replicate and mirror some of the

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behaviors and impulses and unique traits that we have developed in that regard.

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And I think that I know that because I had a great relationship with my grandparents and

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because I always like my first romantic partner, was way older than me.

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Like there is a lot of unique life traits that definitely made me more flexible to

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intergenerational cooperation, But I also know that that's not a perfect and smooth

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process. And and a big example of that is, for example, as in regard to accessibility

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and inclusion, I'm hard of hearing.

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I have a 57% hearing loss and that also causes my speech to be impaired.

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And, you know, when I show up to a lot of community spaces and I require accommodations

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such as closed captioned, such as other, you know, if I'm in a physical event sitting in

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the front, etcetera, I realize that, you know, that is something that is very

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intergenerational in itself because 70% of people over 65 are going to have some kind of

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disability. And so when we talk about intergenerational complications, it also

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spaces that are not accommodating folks with disability.

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It's also the patronizing and the invalidation of young people of any age not

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knowing what the struggle, what the effort is behind someone, sustained movement.

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And I think in the climate movement, to wrap up my thoughts, there is a tendency right now

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to project the idea that, oh, Greta Thunberg is the only climate activist.

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And I say that, you know, having done the impact campaign of Greta Thunberg documentary

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the whole point of can you hear us and why the name of the campaign is Can you Hear Us

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is because there is so many more people other than just one individual, one young

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climate activist.

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And even if one climate activist rises to the occasion is because it is doing so on the

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shoulders of so many generations that came before to fight for clean air, for clean

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water, and so many other human rights, like, for example, the civil rights here in the

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United States. We wouldn't have, you know, the the different constitutional amendments.

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Women wouldn't have the vote today if it wasn't, because so many folks who are, you

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know, historically involved in so many different social movements.

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And that's why intergenerational lessons learned are essential in order to carry on

Samuel Rubin:

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their legacy.

Wendy Green:

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Yeah. And from my perspective, you know, I was very involved as a young woman in several

Wendy Green:

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different areas of of our society.

Wendy Green:

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And I love being around the passion of the youth that they bring to the movements, you

Wendy Green:

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know, and they they're at least there's a belief that we can make a change, we can make

Wendy Green:

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a difference. And I and I want to see that more in the like elder climate action and the

Wendy Green:

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older organizations that are trying to make a difference.

Wendy Green:

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So I think, yeah, I'm excited about that.

Wendy Green:

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So so let's talk about some ways that people can make a difference.

Wendy Green:

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I think you mentioned about the international the peace accords and what

Wendy Green:

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you're seeing there. David asked about international cooperation.

Wendy Green:

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So what are some of the things that we can do as as individuals, but also as part of

Wendy Green:

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groups that we can do to make a difference?

Frances Stewart:

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I think there's so many possibilities that no one's going to do everything.

Frances Stewart:

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No one should even try to do everything.

Frances Stewart:

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But they range from, you know, things in our, you know, in our homes, like for people

Frances Stewart:

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in the United States with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, you know, there's a

Frances Stewart:

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huge push to electrify buildings, electrify homes.

Frances Stewart:

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That's extremely important in fighting climate change.

Frances Stewart:

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Um, and you know, the tax credits.

Frances Stewart:

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And for lower income people, the tax rebates are going to make a lot of things possible to

Frances Stewart:

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make our homes more energy efficient, to get rid of old fossil fuel appliances and replace

Frances Stewart:

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them with modern, more efficient, more effective electric appliances.

Frances Stewart:

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Um, you know, lots of changes that we can make.

Frances Stewart:

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Um, you know, in our own homes and our own daily lives.

Frances Stewart:

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But, you know, going beyond that, if I had only one thing to do, I would say vote.

Frances Stewart:

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This is an election year for most people, but voting is really fundamental.

Frances Stewart:

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And also finding, you know, one or more groups that you feel like you can work with.

Frances Stewart:

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It might be something through your church.

Frances Stewart:

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It might be a professional group.

Frances Stewart:

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I spent most of the last couple of days in a conference of medical professionals concerned

Frances Stewart:

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about climate change.

Frances Stewart:

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It might be people in your neighborhood.

Frances Stewart:

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There are many, many possibilities.

Frances Stewart:

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And then taking action as a as a group that could be something very public like going to

Frances Stewart:

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a protest, but it could be emailing your congresspersons, your local representatives,

Frances Stewart:

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your governor about, you know, the changes that you want to see them make and what your

Frances Stewart:

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priorities are.

Frances Stewart:

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Um, you know, a lot of is just learning.

Wendy Green:

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What's Francis I just put something up the third act.org you mentioned they're doing a

Wendy Green:

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protest tomorrow or action.

Frances Stewart:

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Tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day of action and they're going to be about 50, at least 50

Frances Stewart:

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actions across the country.

Frances Stewart:

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I haven't checked the map since last week.

Frances Stewart:

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As soon as I pop up at the last moment.

Frances Stewart:

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And those are actions that are big enough that people submitted.

Frances Stewart:

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Some people will be doing something in their own yard or in their own house.

Frances Stewart:

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Um, but third Act is a organization that Eldridge Climate Action works with, closely

Frances Stewart:

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organized by Bill McKibben, who many of you may know has been working on climate change

Frances Stewart:

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for many, many years.

Frances Stewart:

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Um, and for people 60 and older.

Frances Stewart:

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And a lot of their focus is in getting moving money away from investing in fossil

Frances Stewart:

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fuels. So what will be happening tomorrow for the day of action is targeting for the

Frances Stewart:

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big banks. Citibank, Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo that have the biggest

Frances Stewart:

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investments in fossil fuels and asking them to move their money out of that into more

Frances Stewart:

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productive uses, things that are better for the environment and for society.

Frances Stewart:

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That'll be done in a lot of different ways.

Frances Stewart:

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I'm living right outside of DC, The big day of action in DC.

Frances Stewart:

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In about 36 minutes the vigil will start.

Frances Stewart:

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There's going to be a rocking chair vigil with 50 painted, rocking chairs in front of

Frances Stewart:

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these four banks and there will be people there rocking and maybe rolling until 2:00

Frances Stewart:

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tomorrow afternoon.

Frances Stewart:

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Um, so there also will be more typical sorts of things, like there'll be a prayer service

Frances Stewart:

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tomorrow, there'll be an interfaith walk, there'll be a rally, there'll be a march,

Frances Stewart:

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there'll be, you know, big puppets and music and chalk art.

Frances Stewart:

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And although this is very much a organized by third act, we're hoping and expecting

Frances Stewart:

:

there will be people, you know, of of all ages there, because this is not just an issue

Frances Stewart:

:

for people over 60, but it's a great opportunity for people over 60 to get

Frances Stewart:

:

involved. And we also have a very cool rocking chair.

Frances Stewart:

:

Rebellion shirts, I think still available.

Wendy Green:

:

Okay.

Samuel Rubin:

:

I will be at the Beverly Hills, uh, third act March tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Samuel Rubin:

:

if anyone is in Los Angeles, we are meeting at 10 a.m.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Pacific time.

Samuel Rubin:

:

But like Francis said, everyone can go to the third ACT portal and find another event

Samuel Rubin:

:

nearby. Um, it's on third act.org and then dash National Day of Action.

Samuel Rubin:

:

But you can find it on the landing page and I agree Francis people of all ages should be.

Samuel Rubin:

:

I mean, I participated last year in a very similar event that was organized by youth led

Samuel Rubin:

:

organizations. And it literally was like exactly the same type of format and, you

Samuel Rubin:

:

know, organization like Third Act and Elder for Climate Action were in there because they

Samuel Rubin:

:

didn't even know they could join, you know?

Samuel Rubin:

:

And so now I think it's very important that this type of effort happen to make sure that

Samuel Rubin:

:

we build intergenerational coalition because we are going to be so much more powerful if

Samuel Rubin:

:

we all show up at the same time.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And to your point, Wendy, about action taking action, yes, collective action is

Samuel Rubin:

:

imperative to solve the climate crisis, but we are all individually going to be doing

Samuel Rubin:

:

that differently because we have different skills, different capacities, different

Samuel Rubin:

:

abilities. And so one of the specific goals of the Can You Hear Us campaign was to

Samuel Rubin:

:

provide people with resources that they could customize and better understand how

Samuel Rubin:

:

their skills and interests could untap the most impactful action items that they could

Samuel Rubin:

:

take in the climate movement.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And so we put together a three question action quiz that anyone can go to.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Can you hear that or and take and it will ask you briefly, how much frequently can you

Samuel Rubin:

:

engage in climate action A few hours a week, a few hours a month, every day.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Not everyone is going to have the same capacity.

Samuel Rubin:

:

What are the issues that you care most about?

Samuel Rubin:

:

What are some abilities that you have that you are most expertise that you have the

Samuel Rubin:

:

biggest expertise in?

Samuel Rubin:

:

In my case, storytelling, communication that can be leveraged for many different specific

Samuel Rubin:

:

purposes. So I encourage anyone to visit the Take Action quiz and also the Y actions like

Samuel Rubin:

:

Tomorrow are so important is because of what the IPCC is telling us today is that we have

Samuel Rubin:

:

to divest. We have to stop funding current and future fossil fuel projects.

Samuel Rubin:

:

I don't know if people know that in the United States by then, just approve the

Samuel Rubin:

:

Willow project, which equals to 60 coal plants in the Arctic in Alaska.

Samuel Rubin:

:

You know, energy independence is super important and anyone who brings that up as an

Samuel Rubin:

:

issue is rightfully doing so.

Samuel Rubin:

:

But precisely because we need to be energetically independent, we need to have as

Samuel Rubin:

:

much clean energy available here in the United States solar, wind, hydrogen, all of

Samuel Rubin:

:

the above, and stop creating new projects like the Willow in Alaska.

Samuel Rubin:

:

So anyone that can call their congressman, that can call the administration and advocate

Samuel Rubin:

:

against this type of fossil fuel expansion is also taking very productive steps in

Samuel Rubin:

:

climate action.

Wendy Green:

:

Yeah, and there's a comment here that says even if you can't come in person, if you can

Wendy Green:

:

share that this is going to happen on your social media posts, in emails to friends that

Wendy Green:

:

you think might be able to come in person or write letters or reshare.

Wendy Green:

:

I mean, this is urgent, people.

Wendy Green:

:

This is not just, you know, a conversation that we're having.

Wendy Green:

:

This is our lives.

Wendy Green:

:

This is the lives of our children.

Wendy Green:

:

And yeah, it's super important.

Wendy Green:

:

So.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Yeah. I also want to say that I think the person that put that comment is Sherri Stark,

Samuel Rubin:

:

who is actually behind the scenes helping with the action tomorrow.

Samuel Rubin:

:

So absolutely.

Samuel Rubin:

:

I mean, there are so many amazing volunteers and team members who come together to make

Samuel Rubin:

:

these opportunities happen.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And it is also about celebrating the joy and the movement.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Of course, we don't want those banks to be funding fossil fuels, but we also want to get

Samuel Rubin:

:

to know each other, make new relationships, build bridges and create resilience so that

Samuel Rubin:

:

we can get through this together.

Wendy Green:

:

You know, and can I just say how important that is, too?

Wendy Green:

:

Because, you know, we know as elders, adults, whatever you want to call us, that

Wendy Green:

:

loneliness is an epidemic and being part of a movement building those bridges.

Wendy Green:

:

But we also know now with the young people, particularly with the isolation that happened

Wendy Green:

:

in the pandemic, mental health issues are huge.

Wendy Green:

:

And part of that is the loneliness that they're experiencing.

Wendy Green:

:

So coming together in groups like this and feeling the power of a movement, I mean,

Wendy Green:

:

there's nothing like it.

Wendy Green:

:

I've been involved in this.

Wendy Green:

:

And what's more important right now than saving our planet before we get close to the

Wendy Green:

:

end, Samuel, I wanted you to talk about the Cogenerate fellowship that you received.

Wendy Green:

:

What is the work that you'll be working on with that and does that tie in with can you

Wendy Green:

:

hear us or is that different?

Samuel Rubin:

:

Well, I actually discovered Co-generate in the first place, thanks to.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Can you hear us? Because the Can you Hear Us campaign had one of the main desired outcomes

Samuel Rubin:

:

to fostering intergenerational movement building and we obviously had to go and meet

Samuel Rubin:

:

some of the frontline organisation who are already doing that and Co-generate has been

Samuel Rubin:

:

doing that for many years.

Samuel Rubin:

:

People might know Co-generate by their former name Encore.

Samuel Rubin:

:

But basically Encore Co-generate supports a lot of community members.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Researchers, innovators like myself and so many others develop their community projects

Samuel Rubin:

:

and initiatives in a way that brings changemakers and people from different

Samuel Rubin:

:

generations together to fix social issues that affect everyone.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Like, for example, the one you mentioned, isolation, which obviously is an

Samuel Rubin:

:

intergenerational issue, everything mental health related.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And we have so many different understandings of mental health as you add different people

Samuel Rubin:

:

in generation, which is why this type of intergenerational collaborations are so

Samuel Rubin:

:

important. But yeah, my role in the Co-generate Fellowship and for anyone who

Samuel Rubin:

:

might be interested in checking it out because they have a lot of opportunities for

Samuel Rubin:

:

people who are doing this kind of work like yourself or anyone in the audience who might

Samuel Rubin:

:

be listening right now, you can go to co-generate dot org Co-generate.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Actually, I don't know if it's co-generate that org or.com.

Samuel Rubin:

:

I think.

Wendy Green:

:

That. I think it's dot org.

Wendy Green:

:

Yep. Yes.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Um, and check out the innovation fellowship cohort members.

Samuel Rubin:

:

There is 15 of them.

Samuel Rubin:

:

I'm representing the Hollywood Climate Summit and other initiatives in the

Samuel Rubin:

:

intergenerational climate space.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Like can you hear us?

Samuel Rubin:

:

But basically it's an eight month program where every month we get together for three

Samuel Rubin:

:

hours, the entire cohort, we have speakers, we solve problems in a cogeneration

Samuel Rubin:

:

collective fashion.

Samuel Rubin:

:

We learn how to navigate the challenges that usually come up when you try to do that,

Samuel Rubin:

:

which is quite often.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And most importantly, we inspire each other and create that resilience and togetherness

Samuel Rubin:

:

that is so important not just in climate, but in any social justice movement.

Wendy Green:

:

All right, thanks.

Wendy Green:

:

We're seeing a lot of comments here of people that are feeling passionate about this and

Wendy Green:

:

are sharing. So thank you, Doris and Josephine Martha, for sharing out about some

Wendy Green:

:

of this and for listening today.

Wendy Green:

:

And David. So Frances, what are your like biggest concerns with where we are

Wendy Green:

:

with the climate crisis and the climate movement?

Frances Stewart:

:

I think in terms of the crisis, I mean, we're behind If we had when people first started to

Frances Stewart:

:

really understand this crisis and, you know, the first things that you see knowing about

Frances Stewart:

:

carbon dioxide in the air, increasing temperature go back to the 19th century.

Frances Stewart:

:

But 30 to 40 years ago, actually, the fossil fuel industry scientists were some of the

Frances Stewart:

:

first to actually see this.

Frances Stewart:

:

But unfortunately, instead of bringing it forward, they covered it up and actually

Frances Stewart:

:

pushed in the opposite direction.

Frances Stewart:

:

So for that and for many other reasons, we're about 30 years behind in trying to

Frances Stewart:

:

solve this. And the carbon dioxide we put into the air today will be most will be there

Frances Stewart:

:

hundreds of years from now.

Frances Stewart:

:

So last time, this is a little bit like you're trying to fill up, like you have a

Frances Stewart:

:

bathtub that's overflowing.

Frances Stewart:

:

You know, the more that goes in, the bigger mess you've got.

Frances Stewart:

:

So we really have to turn this around relatively quickly.

Frances Stewart:

:

But I used to be a naval officer.

Frances Stewart:

:

I know you can't change, say, the course of a battleship or an aircraft carrier very

Frances Stewart:

:

quickly. Society, the whole world is takes even longer.

Frances Stewart:

:

But that's not a reason not to do it.

Frances Stewart:

:

It's a reason to try to to move faster.

Frances Stewart:

:

Also has some concerns in the US and and probably in other places that I'm not as

Frances Stewart:

:

intimately familiar with with some of the, you know, the pushback from the fossil fuel

Frances Stewart:

:

industry, from the amount of polarization that we see in climate politics in the US,

Frances Stewart:

:

which is more so than in a lot of other countries, and that limiting some of the

Frances Stewart:

:

things that we can do and people getting discouraged thinking, you know, this is just

Frances Stewart:

:

a hill we can't climb, this is something that we that we can't do.

Frances Stewart:

:

And I really I understand that there are days that I get discouraged, but I think there's

Frances Stewart:

:

so much we can do if we work together, if we understand that this is something that we're

Frances Stewart:

:

going to be doing for the rest of our lives in one way or another.

Frances Stewart:

:

This is not something that is going to be solved next week.

Frances Stewart:

:

This is something that if Samuel has grandchildren, they'll probably still be

Frances Stewart:

:

dealing with in one way or another.

Frances Stewart:

:

That and that's not a terrible thing.

Frances Stewart:

:

I mean, human beings have faced all kinds of challenges we've overcome in the past.

Frances Stewart:

:

This is just the latest one and maybe the most important one.

Frances Stewart:

:

And I really believe we can do it.

Frances Stewart:

:

But. It's you know, we have to believe that and we have to not just believe it, but we

Frances Stewart:

:

have to take action on a continuing basis.

Wendy Green:

:

Mm. Thank you.

Wendy Green:

:

Samuel, what are your biggest concerns with Both where we are in the climate crisis and

Wendy Green:

:

with the Climate action movement?

Samuel Rubin:

:

Yeah, I echo what Frances has said and and I'm so grateful for this conversation so far.

Samuel Rubin:

:

I think that, you know, concerns is come a lot of time from the unknown and the

Samuel Rubin:

:

uncertainty, you know and I think that that's why the work I do as a storyteller and

Samuel Rubin:

:

you know, the entertainment industry is very important.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Now, this weekend I saw Extrapolations, which is a new TV show on Apple TV.

Samuel Rubin:

:

I recommend anyone watching it if you are interested in what we have been discussing so

Samuel Rubin:

:

far. It's actually a great example of intergenerational narrative storytelling,

Samuel Rubin:

:

too, because it's a show that every episode happens a year in the future in the climate

Samuel Rubin:

:

crisis. So the first episode is 2038, then it goes to 2043, 2047, and it will go all the

Samuel Rubin:

:

way to 2070.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Meryl Streep is on Diane Lane and Don Cheadle.

Samuel Rubin:

:

I mean, the characters A-listers is amazing.

Samuel Rubin:

:

It's directed by Scott Burns, who did Contagious, the movie about the pandemic that

Samuel Rubin:

:

everyone was watching at the beginning of COVID thinking, Oh my God, how did they know

Samuel Rubin:

:

they were going to happen? So it's a great TV show and why I think it's important and to

Samuel Rubin:

:

your question about the challenges is that we need to know what's coming.

Samuel Rubin:

:

We need to prepare ourselves.

Samuel Rubin:

:

We need to unpack and understand that this is an issue that is very multifaceted, very

Samuel Rubin:

:

multi-layered, and it's not going to be one solution fits all.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And that, like you said, you said anthropologically is in the human condition

Samuel Rubin:

:

to struggle about that and figure out how to grasp it.

Samuel Rubin:

:

But why I'm so optimistic and hopeful about climate crisis is that and I want to cop27 in

Samuel Rubin:

:

Egypt this last year and I'm planning on going to Dubai this year, and both countries

Samuel Rubin:

:

are countries that homosexuality is not legal, didn't recognize, you know, gay people

Samuel Rubin:

:

like myself, but go into those countries and advocate together with the local communities

Samuel Rubin:

:

and figure out how do we actually save the planet is what is going to bring us together

Samuel Rubin:

:

as human race and therefore human rights.

Samuel Rubin:

:

You know, I think that I really think that the climate crisis is the most important

Samuel Rubin:

:

issue, and it has the potential to advance gender justice, to advance social justice and

Samuel Rubin:

:

so many more issues alongside with it.

Samuel Rubin:

:

So that's why it's worth it.

Wendy Green:

:

think I think you're right.

Wendy Green:

:

I hadn't really thought about that as much until we started talking about this and I

Wendy Green:

:

started researching it. I mean, absolutely.

Wendy Green:

:

There's overlaps in all of this.

Wendy Green:

:

Yeah, The show is called Extrapolations.

Wendy Green:

:

Extrapolations.

Wendy Green:

:

Okay.

Frances Stewart:

:

Wendy, if I could mention one piece of short term good news that we don't usually think

Frances Stewart:

:

about. You know, most of the climate crisis is coming from burning fossil fuels.

Frances Stewart:

:

Fossil fuels create all sorts of different air pollutants that are huge problems for our

Frances Stewart:

:

health, lots and lots of different things.

Frances Stewart:

:

And they cause a huge range of problems, everything from poor pregnancy outcomes to

Frances Stewart:

:

probably Alzheimer's disease.

Frances Stewart:

:

That's the only cause, but that's something that contributes.

Frances Stewart:

:

And so that whole range of life for huge, huge numbers of people, but those air

Frances Stewart:

:

pollutants actually have a much shorter time in the atmosphere than something like carbon

Frances Stewart:

:

dioxide, which is going to be around for a very long time.

Frances Stewart:

:

But so we stop emitting, say, or we significantly reduce our emissions of soot,

Frances Stewart:

:

which is a big climate pollutant, but also a big air pollutant.

Frances Stewart:

:

Things will be better in two weeks in terms of the quality of the air.

Frances Stewart:

:

That's how long this stuff actually lasts in the air.

Frances Stewart:

:

And so we could see long before we see a big change in the climate, you know, big

Frances Stewart:

:

improvement in the climate.

Frances Stewart:

:

We could see a huge improvement in the quality of the air and a huge improvement in

Frances Stewart:

:

health because of that.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And we saw that during the pandemic, by the way, during the pandemic.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Like, it's not like we actually don't know at this point that that's true, because when

Samuel Rubin:

:

the first and now that is March, it's like the two year, three year, three year

Samuel Rubin:

:

anniversary. And those two weeks that people did stay inside worldwide, then you start

Samuel Rubin:

:

realizing that natural habitats all over were flourishing just because we let them be,

Samuel Rubin:

:

you know, as simple as that.

Wendy Green:

:

Yeah. And we have an organization here called Trees Upstate, where it's all about.

Wendy Green:

:

Planting more trees to get some of that carbon dioxide out.

Wendy Green:

:

So yeah, there are things we can do.

Samuel Rubin:

:

I don't I don't want to say apologies, though, because I we mentioned the pandemic

Samuel Rubin:

:

and see, someone just said, didn't we see some good effect during the pandemic?

Samuel Rubin:

:

I yes, we did.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And actually, 2020 is the first year in many years that carbon emissions went down.

Samuel Rubin:

:

The problem is that immediately after the fact that everyone pick up the pace, right.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And obviously we've seen that with supply chain and everything.

Samuel Rubin:

:

But I just don't want to give the impression that the pandemic solved things because it

Samuel Rubin:

:

just was a hiatus.

Wendy Green:

:

Right. It was just a moment in time there.

Wendy Green:

:

We're about we're running close to the end.

Wendy Green:

:

So if you can give me 1 or 2 takeaways, either you know, something that you feel like

Wendy Green:

:

is important for ways for people to get.

Wendy Green:

:

Ways for people to get involved, things that we can do right now to make a difference.

Wendy Green:

:

I would really appreciate that.

Wendy Green:

:

So, Francis, would you start?

Frances Stewart:

:

Well, I'm sure I'd be remiss if I didn't mention for the elders in your audience, we

Frances Stewart:

:

would love to have you join EldersClimateAction.org.

Frances Stewart:

:

That's as simple as going to our website and filling out the form.

Frances Stewart:

:

You know, it's there are no dues.

Frances Stewart:

:

You don't have to promise your first born grandchild, But we have about 25,000 members

Frances Stewart:

:

across the country and ten active chapters, but not certainly many of our members are not

Frances Stewart:

:

in chapters.

Frances Stewart:

:

So we'd love to have you involved and send you a newsletter every month with actions you

Frances Stewart:

:

can take. So definitely that and I think the other takeaway is to realize that it's not

Frances Stewart:

:

hopeless and you're not powerless, that there's a lot that we can do together.

Wendy Green:

:

That's important. Thank you.

Wendy Green:

:

So it's the website is eldersclimateaction.org.

Wendy Green:

:

and to reach Francis you can email her at Francis.Stewart6@gmail.com.

Wendy Green:

:

Okay and Samuel what are a couple of takeaways from you?

Samuel Rubin:

:

Well, I think that, you know, one of the takeaways is that there is a lot of things

Samuel Rubin:

:

that you can cover in less than an hour about intergenerational climate movement

Samuel Rubin:

:

building. So please, if you are interested in in this issue visit CanYouHearUs.org and

Samuel Rubin:

:

find an intergenerational discussion guide in the take action section.

Samuel Rubin:

:

It's an amazing resource that has several different types, including how to navigate

Samuel Rubin:

:

challenging intergenerational conversations and packing time and ageism.

Samuel Rubin:

:

It has an interactive intergenerational game called Guess When, which is kind of like an

Samuel Rubin:

:

alternative version of Guess Who?

Samuel Rubin:

:

And you have to guess in what time, either past or future is the person that you are

Samuel Rubin:

:

role playing with is based on.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And you can say, Oh, I think you are in the 2050s or I think you are in the 1940 and kind

Samuel Rubin:

:

of like empathize and improve our ability to not take.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Things for granted and to know that every age comes with different perspectives,

Samuel Rubin:

:

different knowledge, and it's all valuable and priceless.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And so I think that anyone will find this guide useful as well as a map directory where

Samuel Rubin:

:

you can find a lot of different local organizations to get involved.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Elders for Climate Action is one of them.

Samuel Rubin:

:

Because the campaign has over 65 partners, Co-generate, Elders for Climate Action are

Samuel Rubin:

:

among them. So feel free to check out some of the resources that are already going to be

Samuel Rubin:

:

there and most importantly, get involved with the organizations in the front line who

Samuel Rubin:

:

are doing this work day to day.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And of course, I hope to see many people tomorrow joining the third act day of action

Samuel Rubin:

:

here in l.a. We're going to be in beverly hills.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And i finally saw a comment asking for the source of the climate report.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And that's coming from the IPCC.

Samuel Rubin:

:

So if you go on Google and you put IPCC climate report, you will find the very long

Samuel Rubin:

:

and scary and filled with graphic version.

Samuel Rubin:

:

And that's why the role of journalists and storytellers and communicators like myself

Samuel Rubin:

:

and so many others is important because not everyone will have the capacity or ability to

Samuel Rubin:

:

understand the report, and we all need to share and make the knowledge accessible to

Samuel Rubin:

:

everyone.

Wendy Green:

:

Thank you, Samuel.

Wendy Green:

:

Because I was calling it the wrong thing.

Wendy Green:

:

I called it ICC, and it's the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,

Wendy Green:

:

which is from the United Nations.

Wendy Green:

:

And and if you'd like to reach out to Samuel, you can email him at

Wendy Green:

:

Impact@SamuelRubin.net. Wow.

Wendy Green:

:

I'm going to have to have you guys back.

Wendy Green:

:

I mean, this there's just so much to talk about.

Wendy Green:

:

You're right. And thank you.

Wendy Green:

:

Thank you for giving me this time today.

Wendy Green:

:

I know that you guys have so much on your plate, so I really appreciate the time.

Wendy Green:

:

Um, before we go, let me just invite all of you back for the banter tomorrow.

Wendy Green:

:

Um, we might need it.

Wendy Green:

:

We're talking about humor and after the the scariness of this conversation.

Wendy Green:

:

But as Francis said, there is still hope.

Wendy Green:

:

And Samuel in his stories also shows us there is still hope.

Wendy Green:

:

We just need to be involved.

Wendy Green:

:

But join us for the banter if you're interested.

Wendy Green:

:

Email me at Wendy@HeyBoomer.Biz to get the link for that.

Wendy Green:

:

Um, and then the if you are interested in seeing if you or someone you know might be a

Wendy Green:

:

good kidney donor for Adam Lowe, you can email kidney4Adam@gmail.com and hopefully we

Wendy Green:

:

can find something for Adam real quickly.

Wendy Green:

:

Next week is me doing a solo show and I'm going to talk about the importance of taking

Wendy Green:

:

a pause.

Wendy Green:

:

We all are so busy and so impacted by what's going on around us all the time that

Wendy Green:

:

sometimes it just is necessary and we need to give ourselves permission to take that

Wendy Green:

:

pause. And so I'm going to be talking about that next week.

Wendy Green:

:

I hope you all will join me for that.

Wendy Green:

:

And I always like to leave the audience with the belief that we can live with passion,

Wendy Green:

:

live with relevance, and live with courage.

Wendy Green:

:

And remember that you are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.

Wendy Green:

:

Samuel and Frances, thank you for the work that you're doing and thank you for joining

Wendy Green:

:

us today.

Wendy Green:

:

Speaker6: Yeah. Thank you.

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