Can’t keep up

The climate emergency is so unfathomably enormous that any undertaking in response to it, even efforts much much larger and more powerful than my little project, seems puny and insignificant. 

This is always the case, but there are times when the enormity and immanence—and proximity—of climate impacts make my efforts feel particularly quaint. I’ve already played concerts on the warmest Vermont November day in history and on the smokiest Vermont day ever. Now, when scheduling out the fall, I have to take into account the impact of flooding that in many places exceeded Tropical Storm Irene. I need to be careful not to make concert inquiries just now in places that were hard hit in this week’s deluge; I consult flood and precipitation maps before sending out emails. A venue I was in active conversation with took in several feet of water; that’s one conversation on hold now. At the end of this month I’ll be playing in Coventry, site of Vermont’s sole remaining active landfill. As we drive by block after block with piles of ruined furniture and other belongings stacked by the road, I keep thinking about how every sofa, every crib, every box of books is going to end up there in Coventry with me.

If it weren’t so dire, it would be funny how this project, in a state considered a climate haven, is itself racing the climate crisis. It is no longer obvious what sort of Vermont I’ll be playing in five, two, even one year from now.

If I’m able to salvage anything like a thread of hopeful purpose in the face of the terrifying acceleration of climate breakdown, it’s in the adaptation (as opposed to mitigation) aspect of my effort. While our current trajectory will quickly lead to conditions that are beyond adaptation, it’s easier to make and to see a tangible impact on adaptation than it is to influence net emissions, never mind the unfolding geophysical consequences of the already unsafe atmosphere, which are essentially beyond any human power to control. For instance, in the recent flooding, some places that saw river crests at or near Irene levels nevertheless suffered less damage, thanks to improved riparian area management and building practices. Similarly, our message of localizing community art activity, and whatever contribution these concerts make to efforts to bolster the vitality of village venues, even the fundraising we do for local organizations, may be of some value as long as the state remains habitable.