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Introducing ClimateChangeResources.org, organizing and contextualizing the challenge we all face

November 15, 2020 by Mike Shatzkin Leave a Comment

It was in a blog post in February of 2017 that I first wrote about Climate Change Resources, the passion project that I and Lena Tabori, another publishing lifer, were building to fight the human-caused proliferation of CO2 that is threatening us all, using our personal skills and networks. I’m proud to say that Climate Change Resources is now a functioning website chock-full of extremely useful, well-organized curated information about the climate crisis and what anyone and everyone can do to help.

In that 2017 blog post, I predicted that newbies to the climate cause will soon outnumber the old-timers as the emergency becomes more and more clear. Those climate beginners will start with the internet to find more information about the crisis and what they can do to help. The idea behind Climate Change Resources is to give those newly-motivated people an efficient way to navigate all that material so they can better concentrate their fire on the best targets for their personal efforts.

As advertised all those years ago, Climate Change Resources has lists of books, movies, and TV shows, it has databases of legislative activity and information about political figures, it has events and volunteering opportunities, it has climate change heroes and a shopping section.

It is the hub for the world of climate change. It is an accessible portal to all worthy sources of information and action designed for people who are interested but not so deeply versed on the consequences of climate change.

The sitemap (accessible from every page of the site) best illustrates the simple and elegant navigability of the Climate Change Resources. There are six major categories in the site’s organization: News, Learn More, Take Action, Youth, Resources, and FAQs.

News points site visitors to the latest curated news and blogs (now featuring John Englander and Joel Stronberg who will be joined by many others), along with key reputable media outlets for more news research. The People Are Talking About section is just what it says: the latest and most important climate change information right now. (The US quitting the Paris Agreement is featured at the moment.) CCR also has a newsletter that keeps readers updated weekly on the most important climate change happenings. CCR pulls stories from Inside Climate News and The Daily Climate, but also sources like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian.

Vetted science-backed information about the climate crisis is in the Learn More section where you will find the intersection of climate change with every conceivable subject touching our lives, under headings that include Politics, Laws & Litigation, and Science. (For example, how many people know that 22 of the 25 cities most threatened by sea level rise are in Florida?)

States contains climate information specific to every state, including a summary of each state’s climate issues and climate legislation, updated with the most current information. CCR also delivers politicians’ climate scores and the most important scientific articles through the ages.

Take Action has suggestions at appropriate scale for individuals, communities, and businesses, plus a constantly-updating list of climate events.

In what I suspect will become one of the most heavily-trafficked sections of our site, Take Action also features a Shopping section, where people can see and purchase climate-friendly products from a variety of sources — brought together in one well-organized aggregation. You will find many things you need and use everyday in a climate-friendly form, from reusable paper towels to hand sanitizer to Teslas.

The Youth section is geared towards climate-oriented young people over 12, featuring lists of books, films, ways to take action, and climate heroes. You will be stunned by the perfectly designed timeline for Juliana v. U.S. the youth litigation against the U.S. which began in 2015 and is still not finally adjudicated. Youth also has a kids’ section (for those younger than 12) and a Just For Parents section where parents get insight about how to talk to their kids about the climate crisis. For readers of this post who have kids, here’s a tip: emphasize how we’re trying to solve the problem and discuss the power of personal action

Resources is the section for miscellaneous climate change-related material, including arts (where you can experience amazing works by a surprising number of musicians, performers, and visual artists responding to climate change), a curated library with a primary focus on books and films, links to other climate organizations, and a stunning section of climate change reports, both national and global, including IPCC and NCA reports.

FAQs is, as they say, exactly what it says on the tin: frequently asked questions about the climate crisis, separated by topic into Truth, Consequences, Mitigation, and Adaptation. You want clarification about the difference between climate change and global warming? That’s where we put it.

The facts are clear. Climate change is undeniably an existential challenge for human civilization— it is the most important issue of our time. We built Climate Change Resources to help people navigate this complex challenge. It is our mission – and our hope – that Climate Change Resources will help us build a more educated and empowered army of climate change activists to join forces to rescue humanity’s future. There is simply no time to waste.

Lena built and has captained a really great team that built the site.

Mary Tiegreen was on board from the beginning. Art director and designer extraordinaire, she now runs the addictive Shopping section — on top of everything else. Arjun Malakar, our developer based in India and partner, Sumantra Sen in New York, had no more idea than we did how dense and complicated the site, organizationally, would become and yet, never for one moment, did they step back from a challenge. Problem solvers extraordinaire.

When I introduced Montana Bass to Lena in 2017, she became our first intern,  returning as a graduate this past August with some hours to volunteer.  When she left, Kristen Sasamoto became our first hire in the US and ultimately our Managing Editor. A designer by passion and by trade, she is by our side daily. Lena’s daughters, both publishing veterans, volunteered their time, Katrina writing the newsletter,  Natasha researching the states. And the most recent addition to our little army is Margot Rosenblatt, carving out some hours each week for us as she pursues her college degree — writing, researching, and soon to take on our social media.

We have work contributed to us by a large number of  extraordinary photographers — many of whom Lena had published — all of whom allowed us to use their images pro-bono. They deserve some serious credit for how beautiful the site has become — from the beginning we wanted to celebrate earth’s beauty and they helped us do that.

Filed Under: Autobiographical, Climate Change, New Models Tagged With: Climate Change Resources, climatechangeresources.org, IPCC, Joel Stromberg, John Englander, Juliana v US, Lena Tabori, Mary Tiegreen, NCA

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Mike Shatzkin

Mike Shatzkin is the Founder & CEO of The Idea Logical Company and a widely-acknowledged thought leader about digital change in the book publishing industry. Read more.

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