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Writing my solarpunk heist novel, How to Surf a Hurricane, I wanted to get it right. I wanted the stories of hope and adaptation in the book to be grounded in reality. So I talked to people. First Nations people working to restore ecosystems. Those who’d rebuilt after hurricanes in Florida. Salt marsh farmers in France confronting rising sea levels and heat waves. And I learned.  I learned things I didn’t expect to learn, things I didn’t know existed. Which is somewhat of a novel feeling in recent years–with the Internet having contracted to a few algorithmic walled gardens, it’s hard to break out and discover information that algorithms don’t think you’ll engage with. I’m grateful I was able to travel, to meet these people and learn their stories. And I’m so grateful for the work Climate Stories Project is doing to document and catalog these stories. These archives are a powerful resource for anyone who wants to tell climate stories, fiction or not. It was actually Climate Stories Project that inspired me to write this novel of hope. CSP demonstrated to me–through actions, not numbers–the lasting impact stories can have. The environmental movement has a numbers problem: X degrees Celcius, Y gigatons of CO2. People outside of the movement have little context for these numbers. Even for those of us participating, it’s difficult to put them into context. That’s where stories come in. They humanize. They help us relate, help us imagine ourselves in that world. And that’s the beautiful thing about imagination. Not only can we imagine ourselves in another’s shoes, we can imagine ourselves in another world. Storytelling isn’t just about grasping other todays–it can help us create better tomorrows. Have you even noticed that most environmental stories follow one of three archetypes? 1. The billionaire tech genius will save us, 2. The kids will save us, or 3. The future will be a dystopian hellscape that we brought on ourselves. But what if there’s a fourth option? WE save us. WE work together to create a better future for our kids. We don’t need billions of dollars or Einstein IQs. We just need each other and courage. And where do we get the courage to act? From stories that show us it’s possible. So let’s tell these stories!  Todd Medema (toddmedema.com) is the author of How To Surf A Hurricane, a heist thriller showing that stories about climate change and adaptation can be fun and hopeful. He’s spent the past decade volunteering and working in climate and offers Product Management consulting to clean energy companies.
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