Hope Is Still Alive

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LISTENING: to some music
FEELING: tired :')
SEEING: my desk in a mess!

I just got back from the Netherlands, one of the countries hosting the First Conference to Transition Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia. Have y'all heard about this effort? It's a pretty big deal.

At a time when oil giant BP is seeing its profits double from the U.S. war in Iran, world leaders representing more than 50 countries are gathering to figure out how to leave this archaic energy source behind. Gas prices are the highest they've been in four years: an average of $4.18 a gallon. Now might be the exact moment the world has been waiting for to transition away from dirty energy. The planet is ready — and so are the people's pockets.

I was just in Amsterdam, where bikes reign. The country is aiming to be net-zero by 2050. It has a long way to go with a majority of its energy still coming from fossil fuels, but the country is leaning heavily toward wind and solar. The last 20 years have been a slow move away from oil and gas.

In Colombia, a country I've yet to visit, President Gustavo Petro made a commitment when he entered office to stop further fossil fuel buildout. Now, the country is co-hosting this conference in hopes of a new energy era — one that won't sacrifice our health and futures.

Talks began Tuesday, so it's a bit early to know what the outcome will be. Binding agreements aren't expected, but these conversations could pave the way toward international collaboration and pressure to rethink global financing structures. Many countries in the Global South can't afford to invest in solar or wind, not when they're saddled with high-interest loans. Let us not forget that much of this debt is a legacy of colonialism.

The conference has included the voices of Indigenous peoples, whose lands are often at risk of dirty development.

“For Indigenous peoples, stopping fossil fuel extraction is not only a climate imperative — it is essential to defending our territories, our governance systems and our right to self-determination,” said Juan Carlos Jintiach, executive secretary of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, a coalition of Indigenous and local community organizations representing millions of people across forest regions worldwide, to the Associated Press.

I'm not sure if this effort will bear fruit, but I know that hope remains alive. Not all world leaders are as evil as the one I've got at home. Maybe there's a future for us, after all. 🌀

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