Commentary: New Petaluma program offers chance to do something about climate change

Monthly Argus-Courier column meant to highlight ways residents can get involved in climate fight

Today is my 50th birthday. It seems like an apt time to start something new and daring, like putting myself out there with this monthly climate column. It’s not easy to take on a new endeavor, but there is little reward in doing nothing.

When the Cool City Challenge presented itself last summer, it was a chance to do something big - an opportunity to activate the power of an engaged community and kick-start the grassroots movement needed to bond us together into a supportive team working toward the common goals of personal safety and planetary stability. By encouraging us to cultivate relationships first, this challenge reminded us to take pride in our interconnectedness for from that comes strength.

And strong we are! We knew that Petaluma had enormous town pride, a penchant for volunteerism, and bold climate goals, but who knew so many everyday people were so eager to jump in and dedicate their time and energy to taking action? We could tell we were on to something when dozens and then hundreds of people raised their hands to volunteer as Cool Block Leaders to take their neighbors on a five-month journey covering disaster resiliency, carbon reduction, water stewardship, neighborhood livability, and empowering others - no small ask. And we saw the value of providing a path forward when we had a dad in tears at our information meeting, so grateful to have something to actually do for his children’s future.

Kicking off in January what is now called Cool Petaluma, 50 of our 300 Cool Block Leaders have already been trained and have begun engaging with their neighbors with encouraging success.

Cinda Gilliland lives on a more rural property off Old Adobe Road, not exactly your typical city block. Her first inclination was to believe that her neighbors would not be receptive, many of them having lived there for generations, down long driveways and behind closed gates.

“I had all of these fears and projections,” she said, “But one afternoon I decided I was just going to do it.”

Gilliland did not encounter a single unpleasant person, and many were eager to engage, even inviting her to stay for coffee.

“These houses were just facades before, now they are much more humanized,” Gilliland said. “I know there are people behind those walls.”

This is the beauty of the Cool Block program – first we cultivate these relationships, then we get to work. After hosting her information session - the first step in the Cool Block process - she was surprised to find that everyone who attended agreed to participate. Just through this one meeting, they have already discovered a shared interest in habitat restoration that could become an exciting team project later in the program. Gilliland’s advice for future Block Leaders: “Just do it. Don’t overthink it. We don’t really have a choice of doing nothing.”

The last four years have taught us that the devastating effects of climate change are not a far-off possibility, they are here and now, as can be witnessed when smoke blankets our valley, floods inundate our lowlands, and our river (really a tidal slough) threatens to rise with the sea. Our children are growing up with “fire season” replacing what we used to call summer and fall and a fear of warm winds and the red sun. As adults, we know that this is a new phenomenon, but with no clear course of action, it seemed distraction and avoidance were our only options as we waited impatiently for the next big event and hoped someone else would take the lead. After all, what could one individual do in the face of a global crisis? And yet, with no agency, all we were left with was anxiety - and that’s no fun. But now that we remember we are not just lone individuals, we are a part of a collective whole, the strength of our community can be unleashed and anxiety can be replaced with action.

After being invited to the Petaluma 7-11 Lions Club for their 7:11 a.m. breakfast meeting to give an overview of Cool Petaluma, club president Ron Hammer told me, “I believe we cannot get to a better place with the carbon and climate problems without people getting involved from the ground up.”

And that is why the Cool Block program is so appealing to such a wide swath of Petalumans. This is our opportunity to step up to the challenges of the time and show the world how powerful an organized and dedicated group of ordinary people can be.

It is time for us to take our fate, and the fate of our children and grandchildren, into our own hands. We cannot wait for someone with more power, more influence, more knowledge, more money, more time to figure it out for us. Doing nothing is no longer an option. It’s time to get started, together.

Natasha Juliana is the campaign director for Cool Petaluma. She can be reached at natashaj@coolpetaluma.org. For information on how to get involved, visit coolpetaluma.org.