WEBVTT - Fighting Climate Anxiety with Dr. Lise Van Susteren 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:02.600 In the beginning when I was talking about the emotional 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:05.240 toll of climate. My gosh, this was back in two 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:08.719 thousand and eight, and I tried to get the American 0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:11.800 Psychiatric Association to come to a meeting that I had 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:13.920 in two thousand and nine, and they said they weren't interested. 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:17.759 But fast forward again, and it took a while, but 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:22.320 people now recognize Mother Nature has made the point. So 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:26.759 what was once an abstract issue, and some people, by nature, 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:30.640 are more inclined to focus on fear and danger than others. 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:33.520 And now you know, we kind of went from don't 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:36.960 want to hear about it, sounds scary, Maybe everything will 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:40.760 work out too. In some instance's almost state of panic. 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:44.440 Oh we fucked. 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:51.320 Welcome to I'm fucking the future. Like you, I get 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.440 on my phone every morning I see the headlines about 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.720 the climate crisis, and I'll be the first to admit, 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:00.640 but it's shockingly easy to feel power lives by the 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:04.400 world around us. If we're going to unfuck this disaster, 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:07.640 we've got to put our heads together and actually solve 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:11.360 this mess. Because together, I truly believe we can get 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.280 on the path to a better future. I'm your host, 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:17.280 Chris Turning and this is unfucking the future. 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:20.640 Fucking the future. 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:26.920 It's not hard to notice the effects of climate change. 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:31.199 For hundreds of millions of people. It's right on their doorstep. 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:35.399 Triple digit temperatures for days on in smoke from record 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:39.440 setting wildfires, fouling the air, warming oceans. 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:40.240 Bleaching coral reefs. 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:44.760 Opinion polls find growing concern about climate change. Psychologists say 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:47.760 that can be a positive thing, spurring people to action. 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:51.240 That's John Yang, a correspondence for PBS News Hour. 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.600 But for some people it becomes an overwhelming sense of 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:59.200 despair or anxiety. Psychologists call it climate anxiety. 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:04.520 Last episode, we heard from a young climate activist about 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:08.359 how the environmental crisis was affecting her and her peers, 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:11.800 And today I want to go deeper into that discussion. 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:15.080 Even though most people are just now catching up on 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:18.359 the reality of how the climate is impacting our mental health, 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:23.120 some people have been studying climate anxiety for years, like 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:28.079 doctor Lisa Van Sustin. She's a forensic psychiatrist who's profiled 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:32.320 foreign political leaders and presented expert testament in high level 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:36.799 care cases, but now her work focuses on understanding how 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:41.080 the climate is causing life altering harm to individuals. People 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:44.200 who live for intense disasters caused by global heating are 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:48.680 experiencing post traumatic stress, but the fear of a climate 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:52.840 crisis is also causing people to develop what doctor Lisa 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:57.480 van Sustn calls pre traumatic stress. This, she says, can 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:02.480 cause other social issues ranging from drug and alcohol dependencies 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:07.360 to civil conflict. Let's dig in. There's a couple of 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:10.960 things you need to know about Lisa and Sustrum. First, 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:15.880 she's not your typical psychiatrist. Sure, she went to med 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:20.360 school and specialized in psychiatry, but as a forensic psychiatrist, 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:25.200 she's focused on the impacts of traumatic events, and she's 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:29.720 particularly interested in advocating for people in the court systems. 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:35.240 Forensic psychiatry is the interface between psychiatry and the law. 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:41.840 So anytime something psychological has a legal component, a forensic 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:48.200 psychiatrist would likely be sought to make sure that testimony 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:52.400 is properly prepared or delivered and is in accordance with 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:55.640 the law by someone who's knowledgeable about all these things. 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:58.880 So a sexual harassment case that's going to go to 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.520 court and I have to talk about all the psychological 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:05.000 implications and undercurrents and things. 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.600 And the other thing you need to know about it. 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:11.320 Doctor Lisa van Sustran wants to see a world where 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:15.520 every single person is given the justice and the dignity 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:19.360 they deserve. And she's been obvious pretty much since she 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:20.039 was a kid. 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:25.560 When I was in seventh grade, I fought with the 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:29.360 city council in my hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin about putting 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:33.000 in curb and gutter in what amounted to a very rural, 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:38.039 very bucolic country lane type road that my house sat on. 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:42.200 And my grandfather was a doctor and it was also 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:45.680 a big environmental activist. He was one of the key 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.920 people involved in cleaning up the Finger Lakes. But I'm 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:51.720 also Irish and they always say the Irish can't stop 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:56.280 talking and protesting, So there is that. My father was 0:04:56.279 --> 0:05:00.760 involved in politics and social justice issue growing up as 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:04.880 a becoming a psychiatrist, seeing how people suffer, you know, 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:07.520 it's not a number for a person who hears all 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:11.599 day long about how people are hurting, So everything becomes 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:14.680 very real. There's a face on every issue. You'd have 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:19.760 to be kind of frozen or at least callous, I think, 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:21.760 not to want to help. 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:25.320 That experience is part of why she ran for US 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:26.360 Senate a while back. 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:30.640 I ran for the US Senate in Maryland in two 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:34.160 thousand and five two thousand and six, and as you 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.040 can see, I did not become a US Senator, but 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:42.200 I became more wedded to the issues that were of 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:47.520 deeper and deepening concern, which included especially not just the 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:52.679 environment writ large, but specifically climate change. And Al Gore 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:55.080 chose me for one of his first fifty to train 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:56.400 in Tennessee. 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:01.200 Yeah, the former vice president of it Stays and the 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:04.320 person who won the popular vote for president in two 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:10.440 thousand on a campaign addressing global heating, trained Lisa van Sustran, 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.599 and a new generation of climate activists were born. 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:18.239 The Climate Project in two thousand and six recruited fifty 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:20.919 people to train. And it came about because so I 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:23.719 told this might be apocryphal, but it came about because 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:25.800 Al was on one of the morning shows and said 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:28.760 he was going to train people to talk about an 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:31.520 inconvenient truth and the next thing he knew, of course, 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:33.320 having said that he was going to have to do it. 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:37.119 So Roy Neil, his chief of staff then at the time, 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:42.600 and his wife in particular Jenny Kladd took over the 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:46.159 charge to find fifty people, and I was one of 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:49.479 those fifty, and we were out in Carthage, Tennessee, at 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:52.960 his barn, and he taught us all about climate change 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:55.360 and then encouraged each of us to run with it 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:59.280 with our own voices. And in the aftermath it was 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:00.520 like running downhill. 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:04.760 Doctor van Susteren noticed that very few people were talking 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:07.440 about the mental health toll, but the environment was having 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:11.560 on young people. She found that disturbing. How could they 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:12.800 not be talking about this. 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:17.200 The only thing is that I thought that we would 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:19.440 be seeing these changes. We look at the numbers, make 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:23.440 the changes right away, and then everybody would be happy 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:26.560 and everything would be correct. But increasingly I saw it 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:30.800 wasn't just the health issues, but specifically mental health toll, 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:32.840 and especially on kids. 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:36.360 She observed a post traumatic stress that an increasing number 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:37.520 of people are living through. 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.160 On one side is what people are currently experiencing in 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:46.640 terms of often aver an extreme weather event, the anxiety, 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:51.600 generalized anxiety disorder, major depressions or just depression. We find 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:55.640 post traumatic stress disorder. Of course, we find that people 0:07:55.800 --> 0:08:01.880 try to numb themselves with alcohol ors and then we 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:06.080 often see domestic violence and it's not really surprising because 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:09.760 think about it. Imagine if your house is burned down, 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:15.360 lone away, flooded, or otherwise swept off the face of 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:19.320 the earth, and you've lost your possessions, maybe your pets, 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:24.440 family members, your everyday life has been disrupted, you've lost 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:26.640 your job, you can't go to school. Do you think 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:30.360 you'd be a little upset. So it's easy once you 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:33.199 drill down anything you know that's right. 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:36.800 But there's also a pre traumatic stress. 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:43.280 The emotional toll is derived from the realization that the 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:47.439 science is telling us that we're going to bust through 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:52.800 various irreversible tipping points, that we're getting close to one 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.640 point five degrees which a centigrade, which unleashes those climate 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:59.760 tipping points, and so the anticipation is that things are 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:04.040 going to get worse before they ever get better. Well, 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:06.920 I don't like to say that, but that's what's being said. 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:12.120 And newsflash, people don't like to think that things are 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.839 going to get worse. So it's what I've dubbed pre 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:21.200 traumatic stress. So the people who are thinking about the future, 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:24.160 and this is particularly true of young people because they're 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:28.960 going to be suffering the cumulative toll. It's the anticipation 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:34.520 of future damage and the recognition that now is the 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:38.680 time to be taking action and there's a robottleneck and 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:39.199 they know it. 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:43.240 Yeah, and this is what you're saying, this pre traumatic stress, 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:46.280 but also the frustration. I hear you saying about, well, 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:48.080 why aren't we doing something about base? 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.240 A lot is being done. There are plenty of people 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:54.560 are busting there, you know what, to do everything they can. 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:58.559 The issue is are we doing enough in time? 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:00.719 Yes, I think, I say readly impoint stress. A lot 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.800 is happening. A lot is happening. It's just it is 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.280 it going up a speeding the scale that we need. 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:10.040 And that's the urgency. And I think that's a sense 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:12.360 of maybe where the frustration is coming in as well. 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:16.760 And here's the biggest problem, Chris. It's one thing if 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.520 you could always say to yourself, well, you know, this 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:25.400 was fate nature whilst it takes its toll, et cetera. 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:30.600 But what's happening now is that people know that the 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:35.040 intensity and the frequency of these extreme weather events have 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:40.280 the handprints of humans all over. So the issue now 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:45.080 is this is willful neglect. This is the difference between 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:49.760 involuntary manslaughter, so to speak, and voluntary manslaughter where you 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:53.400 know full well that you are endangering others but you're 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:56.960 doing it anyway. It's much harder to get over harm 0:10:57.080 --> 0:11:00.360 that we believe is not an accident but was intentionally 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:05.839 or partly intentionally by negligence inflicted. This is really unnerving 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:10.719 because that kind of cynicism, it's different from normalizing. This 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:15.319 is cynicism that government doesn't work for you, entergyroads, our 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:19.520 trust in our institutions as being able to keep us safe, 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:23.920 and the consequences of that. For somebody who studies this 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:27.560 is that when people don't believe in their government, they're 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:29.920 not going to get out there and vote. They are 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:34.240 accepting cynically that this is the way things are, and 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:36.640 that's when you see the erosion of democracy. 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:44.240 Do you see certain populations being more prone to its mindset? 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:47.560 You know, Is it's something that makes someone more vulnerable 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:47.840 to that. 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:53.160 Yes, of course kids are likely to be I think 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:58.160 more inclined to show some of their anger, and they 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:02.800 also sometimes feel or more vulnerable. Older people tend to 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:05.920 sweep it under the rug. They're not in their idealistic phase. 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:09.480 They aren't going to change the world. They aren't destined 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:15.080 to see the or to experience the consequences of their 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:18.800 bad decisions. We're on a kind of a trajectory that 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:23.319 we're not going to change now. Woods have that whole 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:25.560 world and falling in front of them. They've got to 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:26.920 make these course changes. 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:30.120 It's easy to see how young people would be more 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:34.120 vulnerable to mental health issues related to the environment, and 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:38.040 the numbers on this are staggering. In a global survey 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:42.160 of ten thousand gen zas, almost sixty percent said that 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.880 they felt very or extremely worried about the climate, and 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:49.800 perhaps to doctor Van Susteren's point here, more than fifty 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:55.880 percent reported feeling sad, anxious, angry, and powerless. For a 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:59.720 lot of people, that panic can cause pre traumatic stress 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:06.440 and anxiety, and those feelings can cause emotional paralysis. I 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.840 think we can all understand this feeling like no matter 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:13.840 what we do, we're doomed. But that's a totally unhelpful perspective. 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.120 We've got to lean on the people around us who 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:21.160 meet the climate crisis with a sense of agency. But 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:24.400 people who say we can fix this. 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:27.960 And there are other people who by nature have a 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.839 feeling of agency, So even if they aren't you the 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:35.920 center of this, or mister or miss important that they 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:40.040 have the sense that they are agents of change and 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:43.640 that they must pick up the standard and bring others 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:45.920 to bring up pick up the standard with them. These 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:50.199 are the people that are kind of natural organizers, collaborators, motivators, 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:50.679 et cetera. 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:53.840 There's so many people in the world who, in the 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:57.679 face of adversity, find innovative solutions for the future. 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:10.480 We're on fucking the future. We're on fucking the future. 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:16.560 I know from personal experience that my turning point was 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.880 when I did psychological profiles in the first case that 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:24.720 I was involved with, which is the Juliana case against 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:28.920 the federal government. Juliana is a case of twenty one 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:31.560 youth plaintiffs and Jim Hansen who have sued the federal 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:36.520 government for insufficient action essentially on climate and I spent 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:40.920 several months one summer writing those psychological profiles. I had 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:44.359 worked previously for the executive branch of the government writing profiles, 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:48.400 so it's a familiar territory to me. But I got 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:52.360 to say, I will never be able to forget what 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:55.600 it was like listening to them and experiencing what they're 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:59.640 going through as they contemplate a future that feels dark, 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:05.080 and so once you hear those stories from a person directly, 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:06.720 you can't forget them. 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:11.880 And as doctor Van Sustrm prepared to expert witness testimony 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:15.920 for Juliana versus United States, she was also working in 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:21.000 the background on another landmark case held versus Montana. But 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:23.640 what we talked about in the last episode. 0:15:23.400 --> 0:15:27.239 The state of Montana had passed a law that prevented 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:34.400 forbid lawmakers from referring or considering climate change in any 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:38.560 of the permits that they would issue or other related 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:43.440 activities to fossil fuel companies and their impact on the environment. 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:47.240 Last summer, doctor Van Sustrom joined the team of experts 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:50.360 who testified on behalf of the youth plaintiffs in a 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:52.560 small courtroom in Helena, Montana. 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:56.400 It's a wooden paneled room. It's kind of small, a 0:15:56.560 --> 0:15:59.760 very intimate wooden benches and stuff. So it has this 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:05.200 country style feeling, and so it's always the feeling of 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:09.800 irony that it goes out over very high tech services, 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:13.080 but it's just this little group of people that are 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.440 fighting for what they believe in. And so we had 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:20.200 a judge that was an old Montana girl. I say 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:23.560 girl because she was in her I think probably in 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:27.120 her early sixties, but you know, a real a Montana stock. 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:30.440 And so it was kind of like central casting for 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:34.920 the characters that were there. They were all Montanas. And 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:38.160 so the feeling of authenticity and the feeling that we 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.920 were doing something fundamental and that it was that it 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:45.120 was right, and it was straightforward and it was fair 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:49.680 was a part of the sizzle of excitement that we felt. 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:53.880 So for me, the job was essentially to find out 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:57.680 what the playbook of the lawyers defending the state was 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:01.920 going to be and to counter that. And also I 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:06.760 brought up that my code of ethics says that part 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:10.800 of being a good doctor requires that I take public 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:15.760 health seriously. So I am, in a sense called charged 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:19.040 with that responsibility. And then all I had to do 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.240 was show what the State of Montana was doing to 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:26.639 these kids, specifically using their testimony in the courtroom. And 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:30.840 then of course the expert tease that I have that says, yes, 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:33.919 that would cause a person losing your house to fire, 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:36.919 not being able to go out because there's smoke, not 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:40.199 being able to engage in previously enjoyed activities. That's going 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:41.120 to stress a kit out. 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:48.320 It's an incredible story, but perhaps most importantly, this case 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:50.679 can teach us a lot about why we have to 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:55.960 combat climate anxiety through action. See the foundation for this 0:17:56.160 --> 0:18:00.560 case was set a long time ago, but activists who 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:02.800 were fed up with a current status quo. 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:06.800 It was nineteen seventy two that a group of enterprising 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:10.600 people said, Hey, we love our state of Montana. We 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.960 want to put in the state of Montana constitution that 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:17.359 Montana residents have. All right, and this is the constitution 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:20.480 to a safe and healthful environment. 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:26.199 Okay, let's pause here, what the fuck are you talking about? 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:32.399 Like doctor Van Sustin mentioned, the amendment in Montana that 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:35.000 allowed for this case to go to trial says for 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:39.240 the state must provide a safe and healthful environment. Back 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:43.800 in the seventies, activists saw the environmental degradation happening across 0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:44.920 their beloved state. 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:48.760 We were from Missoula, where on any given day you 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:52.840 couldn't even see the mountains because of what was coming 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:54.480 out of corner Waldorf. 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:57.800 That's Mae Non Ellingson, who is the youngest member of 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:00.959 the committee that decided on the wording of the Clean 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:04.320 and Healthful Amendment. This clip is from an interview she 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:06.560 did with Montana Technological University. 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:10.200 It was the beginning of strip mining and eastern Montana 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:15.040 and then we had clear cutting. So for a great 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:19.480 number of us, it's like we didn't want that exact 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:23.960 environment that we had in Montana. We didn't want the 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:24.960 status quo. 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:32.600 And those words clean and healthful were critical, not just 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:35.400 because they'd be used in the Hell v. Montana lawsuit 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:38.920 fifty years later, but because they meant something to Maine 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:44.000 Non and other activists. They all loved Montana and preserving 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:47.040 a beauty of estate was so important to them they 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:49.320 had to find a way to protect it. 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:52.399 They were saying, how can we add these words. We 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:54.640 don't know what they mean. We're going to have all 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:58.840 kinds of lawsuits trying to establish what they mean. But 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:04.440 those were words that were actually in federal legislation. They 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:08.360 were in some of the environmental protection legislation. 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:13.760 It's people like may Non who over fifty years ago 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:17.879 laid the groundwork for young activists to advocate for a 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:24.120 healthy environment in Montana. What the fuck are you're talking about? 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:29.520 Because of that, that law, we could show in a 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:33.600 million different ways did not render the residents of Montana's 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:37.480 safe and certainly not helpful when it's in the constitution. Jeez, 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:39.760 there it is an ink. It's really hard to get 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:42.959 it off the parchment. So this is what gives people 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:45.399 that sense we can do this, and this is the 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:50.159 first constitutional court case and it is going to embolden others. 0:20:50.200 --> 0:20:52.359 So if you've got to be first, be first. If 0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:54.480 you've got to be a follower, be a follower. But 0:20:54.600 --> 0:20:57.119 get your friends and everybody else to take action, do 0:20:57.200 --> 0:20:58.000 what's right now. 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:02.000 When we're discussing the climate crisis, it's so important that 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:06.720 we also talk about when things went right because talking 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:11.200 about success and the positive effects of activism can give 0:21:11.240 --> 0:21:14.760 people a sense of hope, and that hope can help 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:18.040 combat some of a pre traumatic stress that doctor an 0:21:18.080 --> 0:21:19.760 Sustrin has been warning us about. 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:23.600 So here's what's important to say. But we will find 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:27.520 ourselves sometimes lamenting not enough people are taking action. That's 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:31.800 really not a helpful statement. But what is helpful is 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:35.720 if we have a real knowledgeable sense about how we 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:38.760 need to work together, then we need to say more 0:21:38.800 --> 0:21:41.480 and more people. And again this is true every day. 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:46.840 Our taking this seriously. So that's what's the empowering message 0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:50.240 that gives people the wish to desire, an impulse to 0:21:50.320 --> 0:21:53.840 take action and be agents of change. 0:21:53.440 --> 0:21:56.960 Which is all to say, talk about how you feel 0:21:56.960 --> 0:22:01.280 with other people, get activated. It will make you feel 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:04.479 a little better. I know. There is a ton of 0:22:04.480 --> 0:22:06.080 great work happening right now. 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:16.520 We are now providing information to states, to local government, 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:23.160 whether it's the city council or whether it's the Committee 0:22:23.160 --> 0:22:29.440 on Education, and especially state legislatures, asking for meetings, talking 0:22:29.480 --> 0:22:33.560 to them about the emotional toll on kids and using 0:22:33.720 --> 0:22:38.480 words language that is important to them because when you 0:22:38.560 --> 0:22:42.400 look at what happens in an emotional toll from anything 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:47.720 is you have increased violence. And legislators, people elected to 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:54.080 office a sense to an uptick in criminal activity, behavior, violence, 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:58.560 et cetera. Higher temperatures lead to violence. Certainly a public 0:22:58.640 --> 0:23:03.359 health message is important, and we are going to state legislators, 0:23:03.440 --> 0:23:06.520 elected officials and saying here's why you need to care. 0:23:07.119 --> 0:23:10.040 And what I'm also bringing up is I'm bringing kids 0:23:10.040 --> 0:23:13.400 in that have been involved in climate issues before, so 0:23:13.440 --> 0:23:15.359 that I'm not bringing them in just for us, but 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:17.679 they've been involved so they can tell what it's like 0:23:17.800 --> 0:23:22.440 first person, not me a professional, but first person, and 0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:25.640 that's a way to get people to feel the story. 0:23:25.720 --> 0:23:30.119 Storytelling is so powerful when you want to get people 0:23:30.160 --> 0:23:30.679 to listen. 0:23:31.200 --> 0:23:34.000 And if you feel like you're experiencing mental health issues 0:23:34.040 --> 0:23:37.120 from a climate crisis, doctor Van Sustrn has a few 0:23:37.240 --> 0:23:43.119 actionable tips for you. First, recognize your feelings. Most reactions 0:23:43.119 --> 0:23:47.199 to the climate crisis are totally normal. Worrying about the 0:23:47.240 --> 0:23:50.800 climate isn't a mental health illness. It's just a sign 0:23:50.840 --> 0:23:52.159 you're absolutely human. 0:23:52.760 --> 0:24:00.040 It is a response to a very serious threat. It 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:02.280 may rise to the level that it makes you ill, 0:24:02.640 --> 0:24:05.199 but it's not an illness in and of itself. If 0:24:05.280 --> 0:24:08.159 you need professional help, it's because you're really beginning to 0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:13.000 shut down. And I've had relatives and boyfriends and girlfriends 0:24:13.040 --> 0:24:16.399 of individuals who've said, you know, my family member or 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:20.320 friend won't leave the house. She's panicked. What can we do? 0:24:20.800 --> 0:24:23.959 So And if you're really struggling, look for a climate 0:24:23.960 --> 0:24:27.919 to wear a therapist directory. You may be able to 0:24:27.960 --> 0:24:30.119 find somebody, or I presume you will be able to 0:24:30.160 --> 0:24:34.320 find somebody either nearby or else, somebody that sounds like 0:24:34.840 --> 0:24:37.240 it would be a good fit, because you know, maybe 0:24:37.280 --> 0:24:40.800 you knew you to just talk to somebody who encourages 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:44.360 like a good coach, So therapists can be like good coaches. 0:24:44.400 --> 0:24:48.320 It's a person simply who recognizes that climate is a 0:24:48.359 --> 0:24:52.880 threat and that it's not surprising that it causes deep anxiety. 0:24:53.240 --> 0:24:55.840 So take a look at a Climate to Wear therapist 0:24:55.920 --> 0:24:58.840 directory and know that you can always reach out to 0:24:58.880 --> 0:25:01.320 a doctor for help. And there are other ways to 0:25:01.359 --> 0:25:02.200 get support too. 0:25:03.480 --> 0:25:08.040 Type in climate cafes and you can find places where 0:25:08.080 --> 0:25:12.000 you can join online others who are talking about their 0:25:12.000 --> 0:25:15.280 feelings and there is no judgment of what you're saying. 0:25:15.880 --> 0:25:19.400 They're not looking for you to provide remedies. You're there 0:25:19.440 --> 0:25:23.640 to listen and to experience what other people are experiencing, 0:25:24.040 --> 0:25:28.720 and it's just a very supportive environment. Then there is 0:25:28.880 --> 0:25:33.600 also a step a little bit more activist is Citizens 0:25:33.680 --> 0:25:38.240