Leading with optimism is not the same as naive positivity. Climate change is a serious challenge that threatens not only our future, but our present. We can recognize that without buying into the narrative that there’s nothing we can do. In fact, there’s a lot we can do as individuals to not only advocate for solutions we believe in but actually do the work ourselves.

Leading with optimism is planting a tree in a local park or cleaning up trash from the side of the highway with friends. It’s future-oriented action that betters your community. We all know these actions alone won’t solve climate change, but they will give us a stake in our local environments and remind us that we’re fighting for a future in which our children and grandchildren can enjoy the natural places we have. With activists from my organization all around the country taking part in these local action events, this Earth Day, I’m optimistic.

Read More https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/3459893-this-earth-day-there-are-reasons-to-be-optimistic/