The moral arc of the universe bends towards justice; the politicians are hopeful
the dialectic suggests it’s circular and synthetic; the philosophers are assured
spacetime is the fourth dimension; the quantum physicists haven’t figured it out yet
the present moment is already too late; the ecologists mourn
a thousand papers written on the consequences of climate change
an annual international conference tackles the behemoth of dread
the brightest scientists of our generation leave each year feeling accomplished
but the oceans suck up more carbon, unabated by the academic pleas from the edge
aside from 9/11 and the invasions, katrina was the first disaster i could recall
the world seemed doomed; how could so many people and pets be left behind?
our scholastic journals even warned that the earth was warming
it was up to my generation to act— in a blink, we’d all be out of time
i went to college and majored in biology and ran the social justice club—
protested pipelines, hosted vigils, screened environmental documentaries,
wrote a thesis, got into a few fights, alienated politically indifferent friends
applied to graduate school to study climate change;
i was only a sophomore when atmospheric carbon passed 400 ppm
i eventually moved across the country to get my doctorate,
aside from research, i teach the next gen
students were born 4-8 years after me;
never challenging the reality of climate change on their tests
they are optimistic and accepting of the stream of un-natural disasters,
always studying, making plans, asking for recommendations, making friends.
set on saving the soils, remediating the rivers, and protecting the raptors,
they are undeterred by the environmental nihilism
it is no worse for them now than it was then
they are not accepting of doom;
their baselines are moving
they are not aware of the feeling of being a part of movements
where their organization’s names and goals are not only outdated,
but marred by the harm of members seeing everything they worked for
shattered
pipelines installed on sacred lands only to spill,
the global average temperature increasing to 1.60°C when 1.5 was our goal for stability frackers fracking; tyson polluting
the arctic ripped open shamelessly for drilling
only few of the new generation are aware of these losses,
and even if they are, they are not maimed by the trauma of experiencing this cruelty
they have inherited the context of their parents’ failures,
but have grown up in this more warped, skewed reality
and are even more equipped to take it on;
their energy ready to be spent,
though their targets are to different baselines;
they do not yearn for the 60s, 70s, or 80s;
they cannot fathom what we say things used to be like
all they know is all there is:
tornadoes, hurricanes, landslides, wildfires, covid
they are not like us— they are not trying to get back;
there is collective grief we all share in them never knowing peace,
but a new type of strength in being deprived of nostalgia;
they will keep hurtling forward,
relying on their predecessors both to guide, to follow,
and most importantly, to understand:
this ‘razed, degraded dump’ of a planet is not lost;
their urban heat islands filled with starlings
are neither a dystopia nor an aesthetic setting for eco-fascist porn
but to them (and some of us) are still storied spaces,
venerable places;
the only home they’ve ever known
but hopefully; ideally; holding our breath; praying; moving; not the only type of world they’ll get to see
—
Alexis O’Callahan is an Environmental Dynamics PhD candidate at University of Arkansas pursuing graduate certificates in Sustainability and G.I.S. She is investigating the ecology and anthropology of sustainable land management. She was selected as a Yale Environmental Fellow for summer 2023 as she is striving to develop an interdisciplinary career that centers community-based resource management. The search for just, equitable environmental solutions connects all of her interests and skills. Before moving to Northwest Arkansas, Alexis was a Hudson County, NJ native for her entire life.
