Monday, July 1

Dear Reader,

Trevor Lehmann is grappling with chronic illness, and though, he says, he hopes for a long life, he is confronting the reality that he might have to make do with a shorter one.

But the Canadian environmentalist and career counselor has discovered that his circumstances place him in a unique position to fight for climate justice. He might not be alive to see a more equitable, climate-stable world but he looks to many of the world’s great accomplishments — from cathedrals to pyramids to cures for disease — that span generations, and ensure a changed world for children and grandchildren. “Rather than seeing climate as a problem that will not be solved in my lifetime, I see it as a source of conflict, struggle and ultimately meaning for both my generation and beyond to not only revitalize the environment, but create a more equitable world than we have ever known,” he wrote on Britt Wray’s Gen Dread. 

Inspired to get more involved? You’re not alone. According to a recent report by Deloitte, Gen Z and Millenials place a “ high importance … on purpose in the workplace, with 86% of Gen Z and 89% of millennials reporting that having a sense of purpose is important to overall job satisfaction and well being,” and 40% citing climate concerns as a reason they’re choosing or changing careers. Trevor has helpfully created a guide to climate and careers. (Also, more than 9,000 young people were recently deployed to areas around the U.S. as part of the federal government’s new American Climate Corps, which helps train young people in skills to address and mitigate climate change, while also taking them to communities they might not otherwise have known about. Brilliant! Curious to get involved?) 

Trevor reminds all of us: “Know that you have a place in this world, that humanity needs you as we all have a role to play in the crises afflicting our world. Life is uncertain, life is uncomfortable, life is cruel, and yet life is brilliant.”

Purposefully,

Dot