Tag Archives: Margaret Klein Salamon

Food. Water. Air.

Posted on by

Food. Water. Air. Without them, we’re dead in about three weeks, three days, and three minutes, respectively. This week’s program features a lot of food talk, with criticism of both state (Iowa) and local (Des Moines) government.

Re: the latter … Kathy and I have spoken glowingly of the Des Moines City Council after council members unanimously embraced our proposal to establish a Food Security Task Force in 2020. The impetus behind the task force was to better prepare our community for the inevitable food shortages that will result from a wide range of climate impacts.

The task force was intended to be ongoing, tackling one aspect of food security during each six-month iteration. The initial phase focused on individuals growing food in their own spaces. It wrapped up in August, 2021, resulting in the creation of the FEED DSM website and a handful of code change recommendations.

Nearly two years later, the task force sits idle and the recommendations collect dust. City officials claim to understand the urgency of climate change and the inevitability of widespread food insecurity, yet the lack of action suggests otherwise. Continue Reading →

Psychologist: It’s ok if disruptive climate activists aren’t popular

Posted on by

Margaret Klein Salamon and I worked together in 2015 before the Iowa Caucuses, organizing volunteers to bird-dog Democratic and Republican presidential candidates to raise the profile of climate change. Our campaign never employed civil disobedience, but a handful of us did get thrown out of a Trump rally sporting signs and chanting “MOBILIZE NOW.”

Margaret appeared in a recent NY Times story, “These Groups Want Disruptive Climate Protests. Oil Heirs Are Funding Them.” She’s a clinical psychologist, founded The Climate Mobilization, and wrote Facing the Climate Emergency: How to Transform Yourself with Climate Truth. She now directs the Climate Emergency Fund, which supports many climate organizations, some that employ civil disobedience.

Margaret contends that civil disobedience — or “disruption,” as it’s sometimes called — is necessary to shock people out of the delusion that what we’re experiencing with climate change is normal and acceptable. Continue Reading →