Emily Cunningham

I’ve done Twitter AMAs for years, but this is the first time a majority of the questions have been about whether humans and the planet are doomed. I’m not just seeing anxiety; it’s hopelessness. I think we’re failing people if this is the message they’re getting.

“...we must be a beacon of hope, because if you tell people there's nothing they can do, they will do worse than nothing.” -@MargaretAtwood, MaddAddam

To me, pragmatic optimism isn’t pollyannaism. It’s a commitment to solving problems because we don’t have the luxury of inaction, either from despair or from the naive hope that someone else will save us. It’s stubbornness, with your eyes wide open.

Forget climate hawks and doves. I’m a climate musk ox. Musk ox are matriarchal. They tough out the worst of the Arctic winter through sheer will. When one of their herd is vulnerable, the strong circle up and protect the weak, facing outwards like a circular phalanx of badassery.

(Credit to @kejames, who sent me a plushy musk ox in the hospital, and reminded me of how awesome they are. She is also on Team Musk Ox).

If you’re on Team Climate Musk Ox, please reply to this thread. Because I know we’re not the unicorns of the environmental movement. And people need to know we’re here.

I RT every picture of #muskox at @ZERO74N that @Lars_Holst ever posted. Does that count?