The War on Cars

BONUS: Peter Kalmus Talks about Turning Climate Anxiety into Activism

Added 2022-05-03 12:46:53 +0000 UTC

Hey there, War on Cars supporters!

Last fall, when we were putting together Episode 76, Smells Like Teen Climate Anxiety, Sarah had the chance to talk with climate scientist and activist Peter Kalmus. That interview didn't make it into the final episode, so we are sharing it with you now.

Peter, who works at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is known for his work communicating the climate crisis in the starkest and most urgent terms. On April 6, 2022, Peter along with other activists, chained himself to the doors of a Chase Bank office building in Los Angeles and was arrested in an attempt to being attention to the bank's fossil fuel investments. "We've been trying to warn you guys for so many decades that we're heading towards a fucking catastrophe, and we've been being ignored," he said then. "The scientists of the world are being ignored, and it's got to stop. We're not joking. We're not lying. We're not exaggerating."

We talked with Peter about youth climate anxiety, the fruitless psychology of climate doomerism, and how to build a life of meaningful activism instead of succumbing to despair. We also talked about the vision of collective action he presented in his 2017 book, Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution, and how he feels about that semi-optimistic take today.

Thanks so much for supporting us in the work we do!

— Sarah, Aaron and Doug

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