A Newsletter About Climate Solutions (yes those, but mostly the other kind)
An Orientation to As If We Were Staying
This is a newsletter about finding *and* creating alternatives to the end of the world (because doesn’t a cool future sound better than no future?)
The following is an introduction to my newsletter. Since I just hit 2000 subscribers, all of whom had almost zero introduction to who I am and what this newsletter is about, I figured now would be a good time to fix that.
Welcome newbies! A few things to get us introduced:
In the non-digital world, my husband and I run Solar Punk Farms: a climate hub focused on bioregional regeneration in Northern California. We’ve been turning a dirt lot into a farm and event space for almost 5 years now.
Our vibe at the farm is queer, irreverent and fun as we aim to make the revolution seem irresistible by offering many ways to learn about sustainability and engage with climate action, all while having a good ol’ time doing it.
If you’re wondering what “solarpunk” is, you can read about it on my Substack here!
Wait but, how did we get here?
Going back a bit further…
Until 2019, I was a career scientist with expertise in engineering cancer therapeutics. I got my PhD in Bioengineering from UCSD, and, after grad school, led a team that harnessed the power of a patient’s own immune cells to recognize and kill tumors. That was my whole schtick. I was good at like one very specific thing, and got to wear a cool lab coat while pipetting small volumes of liquid from container to container.
I bring this up, not to allow for whatever credibility a credential might lend me, but because my past life is central to my perspective. What I’ve learned from studying evolutionary biology and ecology is deeply entwined with how I approach making sense of being alive and building a society that respects ecological principles.
One of my most important pieces on Substack was born out of the insights I gleaned while working on cancer therapeutics. This essay, in no small way, led to my book deal, so it’s near and dear to my heart. You can find it here:
Despite being such a happy nerd, doom beckoned. I left that life behind after the 2018 IPCC report redoubled my interest in climate and environmentalism. After reading dozens of climate-related books, I realized I was in the wrong (and surprisingly less-pressing) field. I quit and dedicated myself to helping manifest a livable and equitable future guided by the evolutionary principles of cooperation and resilience.
I had been writing essays just for the pure masochistic thrill of it for over 10 years so, I gravitated toward educational writing as something I could step into quickly. The same year I quit, I landed a job with Paul Hawken as the Research Director of his book Regeneration, a follow-up to Drawdown. My job was to conduct research on every aspect of a regenerative future from urban planning, agrivoltaics, reforestation, transportation, carbon sequestration, aquaculture, biodiversity, energy storage etc. etc. This laid the foundation of my work as a climate solutions expert generalist. I now work at the climate non-profit, One Earth, where I help classify climate companies across a taxonomy of climate solutions. The hope is that we can help get the organizations working on critical yet underfunded climate solutions the funding they need to collectively solve the climate and biodiversity crises.
Oh, so is this a newsletter about climate solutions?
Yes, but not (usually) those kinds.
I would say my desk job at the non-profit is a bit more mechanistically focused, while this newsletter seeks to address all the messy, complex, tangly-bits inside us that don’t neatly fit into taxonomies. Don’t get me wrong, I think both mechanistic and holistic solutions to climate change are essential. If a list of mechanistic climate solutions is the what needs to get done, this newsletter tries to explore the how and why.
Addressing climate change is both a technical issue and a deeply psychological and cultural one as well. Having gone through the grueling process of reorienting my entire life around digesting an increasingly dire perspective of the future (so as to avoid it)… I love to share the insights I’ve accumulated along the way.
A lot of people describe my writing as optimistic which always surprises me. I write about a lot of bleak climate and capitalism stuff. But I think I’ve figured out what they mean. I’m stubborn as hell and it has never occurred to me to give up. As such, I almost always frame issues within the context of their solutions. It feels natural to me to follow a problem with a AND HERE’S WHAT WE’RE GONNA DO ABOUT IT DAMMIT.
I am abby:
Here are a few of my favorite pieces:
» I’ve written about mental frameworks that help you sustain climate action:
» I’ve written about the ontological horror of climate change and how to let the weight of the world change you instead of crush you:
» I’ve written about how social media keeps us enthralled and focused on symbolic posturing while distracting us from making real material progress:
» And under this new American administration, I’ve written a few guides to resisting fascism and building community power:
What’s In a Name?
The name of this substack, As If We Were Staying, is paying respect to a few of my favorites. It is a homage to Carl Sagan, who in his famous Pale Blue Dot speech said, “The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.” If you haven’t read the longer passage this quote comes from, run don’t walk.
It also pays homage to Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, who had a similar message to Sagan in her book: “The Destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars... I know it won’t be possible for a long time. Now is a time for building foundations—Earthseed communities.” Parable of the Sower is one of our favorite solarpunk books to recommend.
Lastly, the name comes directly from my favorite quote from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass:
After all these generations since Columbus, some of the wisest of Native elders still puzzle over the people who came to our shores. They look at the toll on the land and say, “The problem with these new people is that they don’t have both feet on the shore. One is still on the boat. They don’t seem to know whether they’re staying or not.” … For the sake of the peoples and the land, the urgent work of the Second Man may be to set aside the ways of the colonist and become indigenous to place. But can Americans, as a nation of immigrants, learn to live here as if we were staying? With both feet on the shore?
Thank you for being here, let’s build a better future together, yes? xoxo
P.S. I plan on offering all my Substack posts here for free forever, however if you’d like to support my work and expand my capacity to keep writing, you can upgrade to a paid subscription.
What a cool adventure, Spencer! And congrats on your Substack & entrepreneurial success thus far! I’m excited to follow along. I also have a PhD in biomedical science research, and am planning to apply it going forward in very questionable ways. Your project is inspiring as I take off with my husband on our next adventure: a global sailing odyssey. Looking forward to following along with the Solar Punk Farms!
Omg I am so happy I found you.