Big Beautiful Hope
Resources for Revolutionaries Big Round-Up
The Big Beautiful Bill, also called the Big Ugly Bill, has passed. Several friends expressed to me despair and even anger at people calling for hope. Until I remind them that,
hope is a verb.
With that in mind, we need to be honest. This Bill will be devasting but that doesn’t mean we should give up on creating a better world. Below is a breakdown of how the Bill will harm the planet’s chances of keeping global warming at or below 1.5 Celsius compared to pre-industrial temperatures. After that, I lay down what experts say the world will look like at +2.0°C of warming.
If you cannot handle the details right now, spare yourself and scroll down to Section 3: Resist, Rebuild, Rejoice. This is full of collective meaningful actions you and your community can engage in to resist, prepare, and otherwise build a better world; additionally, there are many links to PDF toolkits and organisations to join and/or support.
This is a call to action. We are at a breaking point, and we are more powerful than we realise. Together we rise.
(1) How the Big Ugly Bill will negatively impact the climate (and our lives)
Please note I’m focusing on climate and environment, and even within that sphere, this list is not exhaustive.
U.S. Emissions Will Increase as clean energy incentives are slashed, fossil fuels, including coal, are given a boost, and public lands are opened to oil and gas drilling.
The bill ends or significantly reduces credits for solar, wind, EVs, and energy-efficient appliances, undoing most of the Inflation Reduction Act’s gains.
Modeling shows emissions jumps: Early analysis projects 8–12% higher CO₂ emissions through the 2020s compared to scenarios under Biden-era policies.
According to Carbon Brief, U.S. actions tied to this bill will result in ~7 billion additional tonnes of CO₂ by 2030—derailing U.S. Paris Agreement commitments.
Environmental oversight is weakened to the point that many protections are completely stripped; polluters are likely to be above the law, bypassing judicial review. This means…
With clean energy setbacks, households could pay $110–$400 more annually in utility bills.
Analysts warn hundreds of thousands of green jobs will be lost, and planned wind and solar installations will stall.
Air and water quality will plummet, harming public health and straining our healthcare system; of course, the Bill also ensures millions of people will lose their health coverage and food assistance. This trinity of issues could create a public health crisis and the most vulnerable will bear the brunt.
Global Implications
The United States is the world’s second-largest emitter; this setback will make international cooperation more difficult. With higher emissions, every 0.1 °C of extra global warming accelerates ecosystem damage—more heatwaves, sea-level rise, biodiversity loss, etc.
(2) What Does a 2.0°C World Look Like?
As of mid-2025, the world is not on track to limit global warming to 1.5°C by 2050. Based on the current trajectory, including national policies, emissions trends, and climate pledges, an increase of 2.0°C is the most likely 2050 scenario unless significant action is taken immediately. The IPCC reports urge staying under 1.5°C by 2050, but that temperature has already been temporarily exceeded in 2023-24 due to El Niño and emissions and could be permanently exceeded as early as the 2030s.
The IPCC reports emphasize that “every increment of warming results in worsening impacts,” and leading climate scientists like Katharine Hayhoe and Michael Mann warn that 2°C is a deeply dangerous threshold.
A 2°C world is dangerously hotter than today, and far more disruptive than many people realize. While it may sound like a small number, the impacts are widespread, unequal, and often irreversible.
Heatwaves become vastly more intense, longer, and more frequent — even in temperate region. What was once a “1-in-100 year” heat event could occur every few years.
Wet places get wetter, dry places drier — intensifying floods, droughts, and wildfires globally.
Sea level rises by ~0.4–0.6 meters by 2100, but more long-term melting is locked in.
Major coastal cities (e.g., Mumbai, Lagos, New York, Jakarta) face severe flooding risks and may require partial retreat.
Pacific Island nations could lose everything.
Hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons grow stronger due to warmer ocean waters.
Storm surges become deadlier because of higher seas and more rainfall.
Crop yields will reduce in tropical and subtropical regions (especially maize, rice, wheat).
Water scarcity increases for hundreds of millions, especially in arid and semi-arid regions.
Global food prices will become more volatile due to disrupted harvests and supply chains.
99% of coral reefs are expected to die at 2°C — including the Great Barrier Reef.
Many species can’t adapt or migrate quickly enough, leading to mass extinctions, especially in the tropics.
Forests may flip — e.g., parts of the Amazon may shift from carbon sink to carbon source.
Vector-borne diseases (malaria, dengue) expand to new regions.
Hundreds of millions face displacement due to heat, water stress, or sea-level rise.
Global inequality grows, with the poorest and least responsible suffering the most.
Climate damages cut global GDP by ~10–20% compared to a no-warming scenario.
Migration pressures increase, potentially leading to border conflicts and political instability; the legal system is already failing “climate refugees” who do not fall under existing protections for other categories of refugee status.
Insurance markets may fail in some areas (e.g., wildfire-prone zones, coastal properties).
In summary, we’re currently at about 1.2–1.3°C, and already seeing unprecedented wildfires, increased frequency and damage from coral bleaching events, historic flooding from Spain to Pakistan, and major droughts all over the world. If we can keep it at or below 1.5°C, we avoid the worst tipping points. But at 2°C, feedback loops (ice melt, methane from permafrost, forest dieback) will make it harder to stop further warming.
To be clear, climate scientists often stress that 1.5°C is not safe—it’s just safer than 2°C.
Since every fraction of a degree matters, let’s ALL take matters into our own hands. Here’s what we can do together:
(3) Resist, Rebuild, Rejoice
Collective action is all we have to resist the Bill, (re)build our communities into resilient, sustainable, and equitable spaces, and to rejoice in our work. Don’t forget that last part, because joy is resistance. If we are to create the world we want, we need to include the joy we want to see in that world and live it every day. Nothing is more punk than smiling as you become ungovernable.
Resist
We need pressure from all angles; not every approach is right will be right for every person, which is why I included a large variety here and in the following sections.
Civil disobedience: Chain yourself to trees, pipelines, corporate buildings. Works best when strategic (targeting key infrastructure, forest tracts, or fossil fuel expansion zones).
Mass protest + occupation: Participate in national days of action, long-term protest camps (e.g. Standing Rock, Atlanta Forest).
Climate litigation: Support or bring lawsuits against illegal extractive activities and permitting abuses.
Pressure campaigns: Target banks, insurers, and pension funds funding fossil fuels or environmental destruction.
Block the bill: Call for states, cities, and tribes to opt out or nullify specific harmful provisions (e.g. public lands giveaways).
Resources:
Climate Defiance – youth-led direct action against fossil fuel executives & enablers
Center for Protest Law and Litigation – legal defense and strategy for civil disobedience
Stop Cop City / Defend the Atlanta Forest – resisting militarized police and forest destruction
Indigenous Environmental Network – frontline resistance, Indigenous land and water defenders
Earth First! – Eco-defense
Rebuild
“We are not just resisting the system. We are building the new one in the shell of the old.” — Grace Lee Boggs
Local Actions with Systemic Power
Start or join a community garden – food security + soil repair + neighbourhood power
Create mutual aid networks – help people meet basic needs outside state structures
Land back & land trusts – support Indigenous sovereignty and community land ownership
Transition towns & bioregional hubs – relocalize economies and decision-making
Tool & seed libraries – democratize access to resources
Workers' cooperatives – shift from extractive jobs to just, ecological livelihoods
Build off-grid infrastructure – rainwater catchment, solar co-ops, composting systems
Eco-villages & cohousing – live cooperatively and regeneratively
Climate grief circles & solidarity spaces – emotional resilience sustains the work
Resources for Your Community
Seed Savers Exchange How-To : learn how to build local seed sovereignty
How to Start a Food Forest: inspiration and free downloadable PDF
How to Start a Tool Library …or Lending Library of Other Things
Farm Your Yard : website, blog, and YouTube with lots of guidance based on years of backyard farming experience.
The Essential Guide to Doing Transition: free PDF download available in multiple languages!
Action Guide: Local Futures: Actions organised by theme, such as education, food, finance, etc.
resilience.org by the Post Carbon Institute: essays, case studies, and how-tos for relocalization, energy descent, and regenerative culture
Planet Drum: Bioregional Resource Directory and Things that Really Work: A Bioregional Toolkit
Health Care
Mutual Aid 101: Solidarity, Survival, & Resistance
Mutual Aid Medics – resources for building street medic, disaster, and care networks
Free Clinic Finder - get the healthcare you need near you.
Planned Parenthood - get the healthcare you need and/or donate to keep them going!
Housing
Permanent Real Estate Cooperatives Toolkit (SPRE) – from the Sustainable Economies Law Center
Join and Support Movements Doing the Work:
Movement Generation – education & organizing for a just transition
Honor the Earth – Indigenous-led climate justice
350.org – mass mobilization and fossil fuel divestment
Sunrise Movement – youth-led Green New Deal activism
Giniw Collective – Indigenous women & two-spirit-led pipeline resistance
Cooperation Jackson – Black-led solidarity economy & land stewardship (based in Jackson, Mississippi; if you don’t live there, this is still a great example to learn from.)
National Black Food and Justice Alliance – land, food & Black liberation
Food Not Bombs – grassroots food redistribution
Resist & Build – a growing network of system-builders
Rejoice
Many of the resources above include elements of finding joy in the work. Celebrate all your wins, all the birthdays and graduations, all the learning moments, milestones and holidays, harvests and anniversaries, all that unites your community.
I do my best to focus on practical, collective action that maintains our need for dancing in the revolution. Here are my most relevant posts to organising, community, and inspiration, some with gentile outlines that can be tailored as needed:
Think Global Act Local: practical meaning of this concept plus an outline for Community Garden, Community Childcare, and how to combine the two. Many hands make light work.
Be a Rebel, Start a Garden: benefits of growing your food, historical precedent, potential concerns, harnessing the power of your HOA
Weaponise Your Privilege (the most popular thing I’ve ever written; yes, more ideas about what YOU can do, organisations, and links in here too!).
Art as Activism: the power of loud and quiet resistance
There’s No “Right” Way To Protest: a history of discrediting protests and a potential guide to help you control your narrative.
Resources for Revolutionaries: a couple books, a podcast, and a TED Talk to invite you and your community into new ideas and the joy of revolution.
Please add any and all resources in the comments!