Hey, we're in the New York Times!
"The monthlong seminar teaches participants how to navigate and prepare for the mounting disruptions of global warming."
“Fearing Chaos of Climate Change, Some Seek Answers in Virtual Classroom: A monthlong seminar offers lessons in how to anticipate and prepare for the mounting disruptions of global warming.”
We’re excited to share that the New York Times has covered my Personal Climate Strategy Workshop in today’s paper.
This is a big deal for a small effort like ours. (And we’d like your help spreading the word…)
What’s in the story?
Reporter Hilary Howard did a great job of not only explaining my own personal climate strategy work, but also the larger movement helping people manage the realities of life in discontinuity.
Here’s a passage
Mr. Steffen, 58, saw this need coming. When he was younger, he was a freelance environmental reporter, focusing on solutions-based journalism to solve the climate crisis… But about a decade ago, he had the “grim realization” that the solutions weren’t arriving fast enough, he said.
In 2021, he published an essay asserting that society had entered an era of “discontinuity” — when past experiences can no longer help with future decisions — because of global warming. It went viral. … People started asking Mr. Steffen for advice, so he created the class in 2023, charging about $2,500 per student. That same year, the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine published a paper declaring that climate change had caused a psychological condition of “systemic insecurity.”
Mr. Steffen’s course, while not a cure-all, offers a safe environment for the climate-obsessed, who are uncomfortable bringing up the topic in everyday conversations because it can be so distressing. A recurring joke among many students is that no one wants to talk to them at parties. But for 75 minutes, twice a week, the online course welcomes their questions and concerns…
Howard goes on to point out what is to me the most important truth of personal climate response: that a good climate strategy serves the person you are, and the life you’re trying to build. The science is just the start.
Personal ruggedization certainly isn't about buying more guns, bugging out or bunkering down. Instead, it’s about making smart decisions about where we choose to live, the systems we embed ourselves in, and the ways we work with others to improve our odds of a good future.
Mr. Steffen encourages students to use a holistic approach — taking into account proximity to friends and family, earning potential and cultural interests — in determining where and how they want to live.
And social cohesion, he emphasized, is a must. “If you are guarding canned foods with guns, you’ve already lost,” Mr. Steffen said in a recent class. “The real first responders are your neighbors.”
It’s a great story, and I really encourage you to read the whole thing. Most people really have no idea how to connect to insights they need to manage this crisis. This work is important.
I have a huge favor to ask. Please help us spread the word!
Here’s a gift article link, meaning anyone can read this story on the NYT for free.
Please share this link via email (or forward this newsletter) or post it on social media. If you have a particular family member, friend or colleague who might find it interesting, please send it along with a note.
Here’s the gift link as a plain URL for copying and pasting:
You can also comment on the story itself or recommend others’ comments you find interesting.
Thank you.
Alex
PS: We’re just about to celebrate our fifth anniversary here on The Snap Forward. I’ve been doing this work for more than 30 years, and a bunch of us have been sharing ideas together since Worldchanging days, or before. I am so grateful.
PPS: If by chance you’re reading this and you’re not yet a regular reader, please subscribe! Most of the essays and podcasts are free, though we really appreciate the support of paying subscribers.