A Brighter Tomorrow

By Holly Swiglo, CCL School Electrification Challenge Intern

Tomorrowland, a 2015 Disney movie, is an objectively bad movie — it lost Disney $120-140 million, and hardly anyone I mention Tomorrowland to has heard of it. Regardless, it’s my favorite movie, partly due to nostalgia but mainly because its message resonates with me and the climate advocacy work I do. 

In a nutshell, Tomorrowland follows a kid as she pursues entry to a futuristic, utopian world, only to find it not as wonderful as it appears. Leaders of this world create a machine that projects visions of a horrific future — one of rampant climate change, pandemics, famine — into the minds of all people on Earth. The idea is that communities will take action to prevent these catastrophes once they become aware of their possibility. 

It backfires entirely. People assume that this future is inevitable, so they don’t do anything to stop it. In fact, their behaviors make devastation all the more likely. In the end, the machine is destroyed and invitations to join the utopian world are sent out, providing individuals with a positive vision of the future. 

Tomorrowland’s message reminds me of Alfie Kohn’s writings in his book The Brighter Side of Human Nature. Kohn argues that the assumption that humans are naturally war-loving leads us toward violent tendencies. Most psychologists agree that aggression is learned, not inherent. However, if we believe violence is a natural instinct, there is no need to feel guilty for aggressive responses and no motive to work toward peace. This creates a vicious cycle: people act violently, causing others to believe aggression is inevitable, leading to more violence. What we believe is what we become. 

Last semester, I took a course in environmental policy. One would think this would be a rather discouraging course, but it actually gave me significant hope. I realized that the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), combined with current policy, was expected to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by around 40 percent of 2005 levels by 2030. Before the IRA, we were on track to cut emissions by roughly 30 percent. To meet our country’s goals under the Paris Agreement and stay on track to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius, we would need to reduce emissions by around 50 percent by 2030. So, we’re not that far off. 

The climate provisions of the IRA are at risk from the new presidential administration and the new Congress. The House just passed a bill that would roll back major clean energy tax credits, and the bill is now under consideration in the Senate. CCL is working hard to protect these climate provisions. But no matter what happens, I’m encouraged to know that these measures have already made a positive impact that can’t be erased. The IRA has already awarded over $61 billion in funding for over 6,100 climate projects. In 2023, 3.65 million Americans benefited from IRA tax credits for electric vehicles and residential energy efficiency and clean energy upgrades. 

The IRA demonstrates that large-scale action to combat climate change is not only possible but has already been done. If we can take major legislative action once, we can do it again. And if we take that action in a bipartisan way, it can last through future political changes, and we can fully achieve our climate goals. 

Despite the success of the IRA so far, we still have a long way to go to reach net zero emissions by 2050, the U.S.’s other, more ambitious commitment under the Paris Agreement, which is required to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Scientists agree that capping warming at 1.5 degrees is necessary to avoid the most severe effects of climate change. If the climate provisions of the IRA are removed, we will have even further to go.  

Still, we certainly have come a long way. Perhaps if we focus on the progress we have made, instead of how far we have to go, we can inspire action. There are some federal policies, such as taxing imports based on their carbon emissions, that would also help slow climate change and have a concrete chance of passing in the next four years. The worst thing we can do is to set our sights on a miserable future. 

Instead, let’s get involved. I personally love Citizens’ Climate Lobby because optimism is heavily embedded in its culture, and CCL regularly provides volunteers with effective ways to make a difference. Anyone can be an advocate, no matter their schedule. Activities like emailing a policymaker using a provided template can take less than a minute. As the peace activist Joan Baez says, “Action is the antidote to despair.”

So the next time someone makes a cynical or pessimistic comment about climate change, tell them about the impacts of the IRA in just a few short years. Tell them that people care and are making a difference in groups like CCL. Give them a reason to have hope. Be guided by the vision of a brighter tomorrow.

Holly Swiglo recently completed an internship with CCL’s National Youth Action Team.

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