Thread by @DrKWilkinson

It’s been a hard couple weeks to be a woman living in the American South and working on climate change. THREAD. 1/13

On the planet front, the atmosphere is now choked with 415 parts per million of carbon dioxide—conditions the human species has never before faced. Earth hasn’t either, for roughly the last 3 million years. 2/13
rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

Who knew? #ExxonKnew. Yes, they knew where we were headed back in 1982, the year before I was born. Makes Big Tobacco seem like child’s play. 3/13
thinkprogress.org/exxon-predicte…

Non-humans aren’t faring so well either. 1 million species—SPECIES—are headed for extinction because of us. To say it’s mass genocide is not hyperbole. 4/13
nature.com/articles/d4158…

And let me stem “humans first” critiques at the pass: A planet that doesn’t work for polar bears won’t work for us either. If we’re still peddling that dichotomy, we haven’t learned the first lesson about a climate changing world: separation is a myth, and a dangerous one. 5/13

All that’s enough to send a gal into tears, the arms of loved ones, and bourbon. And it has. 6/13

But that’s not all the bad news of late. Not by a long shot. We’ve watched state legislatures—strategically honed by the GOP—pass extreme and ruthless abortion bans. Including in my home state of Georgia, where I reside again. 7/13

Forget a woman’s health, her rights, or her life. She is but a vessel. Cue @MargaretAtwood. 8/13

How did progressives on the coasts respond? “Boycott them! Boycott them!” How about: Show up in solidarity with folks on the frontlines of justice—with your dollars, your time, your love. Because running away is a luxury most of the women & girls in GA, AL, etc. don’t have. 9/13

Not to mention: They are coming for your rights across the US of A. If you think this assault stops at the border of the region you dismiss as Backwards, you’re sorely mistaken. See above: separation is a myth, and a dangerous one. 10/13

Then there’s the great, heart-wrenching irony of it all. There is no right to life without a livable planet. And a livable planet is an essential foundation for true reproductive justice. Earth is life. Life needs Earth. 11/13

25 white Republican men just voted to ban abortion in Alabama. I wish I could believe that was motivated by a reverence for life. I really do. Because if it were, we might have an opening. But it’s never been about life. It’s always been about power and profit. 12/13

And that’s why we are where we are. Power and profit continue to rule the day, on a burning planet with women’s bodies increasingly in chains.

Sending y’all love and light, in a moment that feels so damn dark. 13/13