End of Year Message from LA Climate Reality's Chair
MESSAGE FROM THE LOS ANGELES CLIMATE REALITY PROJECT CHAPTER CHAIR
Last year at this time we were all hoping to hold onto progress at the national level. We hoped things would not be as bad in 2025 as we feared they might be.
And then things got even worse than we imagined. So where does that leave us?
I’m not going to downplay the severity of where we are. These are very difficult times to be a climate advocate—especially in the United States. We suffered catastrophic fires locally this year that were climate change influenced. When our federal government is not busy kidnapping non-white people off of the streets, it is actively dismantling democracy and most every recent achievement in the areas of environmental work. The White House now functions as an Orwellian autocratic propaganda machine. The opposition party at the federal and even our state level seems to scramble without much of a plan most of the time, and climate and environmental work seem to be among the lowest priorities even for our allies. All of this is happening while we are losing 150 species of life each day to human-driven extinction and are on course to lose half the species on the planet by the end of the century.
But that makes our work all the more important. And we did really important things locally in 2025.
We fought for electrification in the rebuilding zones after the Palisades and Eaton fires.
As a founding member of the SoCal Stop Artificial Turf Task Force, we fought corporate propaganda on numerous fronts throughout the county and have made Los Angeles County the frontline in the battle against covering the earth with plastic carpet in the form of fake grass that pollutes our world and fails to save the water it claims to save.
We were nationally recognized by Climate Reality Project just this month for our April native street tree pilot program coalition—the first of its kind in Los Angeles—which is such a significant step in the direction of biodiversity that the project will be featured at the state conference of the California Native Plant Society in February 2026.
Our Climate Movers and Shakers series featured interviews with Marta Segura of the Los Angeles Climate Emergency Mobilization Office; Josh Tickell, director of two documentaries on Regenerative Agriculture; renowned trees advocate Joanne D’Antonio; Marissa Roy, Deputy Attorney General for California; wildfire-resistant landscaping expert Greg Rubin; Streets for All founder and transportation advocate Michael Schneider; and native pollinator photographer and author Krystle Hickman. That’s an impressive list!
We were the first chapter in all of Climate Reality Project to hold an event welcoming our new friends from Climate Changemakers into the Climate Reality Project family.
Our participation in the Lawn to Habitat coalition converted the yard of another multi-family residential home in Los Angeles into a sustainable climate and biodiversity showcase.
We joined our friends at Surfrider for another beach cleanup event.
And our committees continued important advocacy work on local, state, and national legislation. We did education outreach. And we took positions on ordinances and sign-ons for dozens of climate issues—sometimes alone when no others would do so, and sometimes in coalitions we often helped start with other environmental groups.
That’s not even a complete list! And nearly all of this work will continue in 2026. In fact, we have a lot in store already for next year, starting with our January virtual chapter meeting with Climate Movers and Shakers guest, climate author Evan Schwartz. And as we recently announced, the Riverside Chapter of Climate Reality Project has joined with the Los Angeles Chapter and added more strength, diversity, and geographical knowledge to our work. Please join us in our February Meet and Greet to welcome the Riverside and Inland Empire members as well as our April event at California Botanic Garden.
We need your energy. We need your commitment. And life on earth needs you to join with your likeminded allies to offset the horrible things happening right now with good work that does make a difference.
This missive is not complete without my annual call for financial support and a reminder that our local chapter is 100% volunteer staffed. Therein, if you are in a position to do any end of the year giving, our chapter is a worthwhile cause. Though we get in-kind support and organizational assistance from our national parent organization, financially we are pretty much on our own. That means our chapter website services, our chapter zoom account, administrative costs, and expenses connected to in-person events all come from donations. We do not charge any membership dues or fees for our events (a policy I support), but as we grow and attempt to provide more and better services to you, this does mean that a handful of people on your leadership team are shouldering a significant burden of costs to keep the lights on. If you can do so, please consider making a tax deductible donation to our chapter. We route everything through Climate Reality Project National so we can take advantage of the 501(c)(3) status, but all funds designated for the chapter on the link above will go to support chapter expenses.
I hope you will join us for our laid-back, low-key virtual holiday party on December 28. Instead of focusing on problems, we are going to take some time to have some fun and care about one another. Yes, there will be giveaways! Then we will get back to working for a better 2026.
Charles Miller
Chair, Los Angeles Climate Reality Project
CharlesAllenMiller@gmail.com