I Have ALS – So Why is My Voice on Climate Louder than Powerful Companies’?

When I started a new nonprofit called ClimateVoice in February of 2020, there was a lot we didn’t see coming. The COVID pandemic put us all in lockdown three weeks later, shifting our workforce mobilization strategy online. Bringing hope, in early 2021 a new administration in Washington and Congressional leadership finally got serious about big policy action on climate. Adding urgency, our worst fears about climate were dwarfed by the grim reality of waking up to darkness during California’s catastrophic wildfires. The last few months have only magnified the urgency – wildfire catastrophe in Maui, enormous fires in the Canadian boreal forest, tropical storms hitting California, massive heat domes – nature is responding to increased heat in the atmosphere and the oceans, and people are suffering and dying.

The planet was running out of time. And I didn’t know it yet, but so was I.

It began a couple of years ago, with difficulties with my throat. We ruled out all the possible easy answers and, in a medical spiral too many know well, found ourselves in a sort of diagnostic purgatory. I was told that I (probably) had PLS, a variant of ALS.

(Background: ALS – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – is a progressive disease that breaks down motor neurons and impairs muscular function. PLS – primary lateral sclerosis – is a related disease that is not as dire in its prognosis.)

This was pretty devastating news for me, my family and friends, and my colleagues. In many ways, however, it deepened my desire to make whatever time I have left as meaningful as possible. So I coped and adapted, writing more, talking less, and using the “chat” function with colleagues, partner groups and reporters as our strategy began to gain traction and my voice continued to fade. Still traveling to see my two daughters, still leading ClimateVoice forward.

But that holding pattern didn’t hold, and recently, I got my official and chilling diagnosis of ALS. I am typing out these words – the only way now I can communicate with colleagues, family and friends. I am grateful that I can still type, and also thankful for the many ways that modern technology – computers, tablets, phones, the Internet – allow me to adapt and keep functioning with a severe disability.

Which brings me to my point. I have been making this point, over and over again, since almost two decades ago when I first took on the challenge of sustainability and climate at Google and then Facebook. While working there, I found it virtually impossible to get my employers or peer companies to engage forcefully with public policy on climate. Why on earth is my voice still louder on climate policy – whether the venue is AP, The Hill, GreenBiz or FastCompany – than that of the huge, mega-powerful, multi-billion-dollar global companies that claim to care so deeply about saving our planet? Or, as our cartoon-style ad challenged companies back in 2021, “WHERE ARE YOU?” (In my head, I’m shouting a less printable version of that.)

I know many people at these companies care deeply about the climate crisis. And the companies are not sitting idle. They are setting net-zero targets, buying clean energy in vast quantities, innovating in their own products to help others take action, investing in R&D – you name it, they’re finding ways to contribute.

But – and this is a huge “but” – for all the amazing work going on in the private sector, emissions are still rising, and climate catastrophes are exploding all around us. We’re winning, but too slowly, and when it comes to climate, winning slowly is tantamount to losing. (I’m far from the first to make this observation.)

What do we need? Strong public policy that will cut emissions rapidly across the economy. Voluntary action alone won’t get the job done. And why don’t we have the public policy we need? Many reasons – but one of the biggest is the influence exerted by the fossil fuel industry and their allies to delay, obstruct, weaken, and torpedo climate policy at the local, state, and federal levels. (This pattern plays out everywhere, not just in the U.S. – also in many other countries. Check out the great work by InfluenceMap to document the insidious influence of those who prefer the status quo.)

In spite of the heroic work many companies are doing in their operations, their supply chains, and their products, and in spite of the deep commitment to aggressive climate action by many individuals at those companies, most big companies are nearly silent on public policy. And this is a huge problem.

Let’s look at how they (mostly) failed to show up for last year’s historic battle over the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act – a $369 billion investment that is already super-charging our clean energy transformation. I and my team worked to hold companies accountable for their vocal support – or their silence – at that pivotal moment for our planet and our future. So, did Big Tech – so vocal in its expressions and prolific in its greenwashing – actually show up when it counted?

Not so much. ClimateVoice published a scorecard of 21 major “pro-climate” companies. As Politico reported, only a handful of these giant, powerful companies (such as Microsoft) went on record as backing climate legislation. Even fewer (Salesforce comes to mind) spoke up strongly and continuously. Most companies were silent – but not really neutral, because their trade associations, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, fought the bill tooth and nail.

It’s time for companies that are still members of these obstructing trade associations to leave them and lead on climate policy. (Note: it’s not just the U.S. Chamber. According to InfluenceMap’s analysis, the Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers, and others are also heavily engaged in slowing or killing useful climate policy.) Enacting the IRA into law was a huge win. But it’s a start, not the end point. We need to ensure it doesn’t get watered down, and we need many more policies – federal, state, and local.

So in August of this year, ClimateVoice began engaging employees of big influential companies, starting in the powerful tech sector, to push companies to “Escape the Chamber” – to leave the U.S. Chamber and to lead on policy by forcefully and consistently advocating for strong climate policy, everywhere they operate.

(Check out our powerful new national campaign’s exclusive coverage in The Washington Post. Already thousands of employees and advocates have signed our “leave and lead” petition and helped spread the word among their colleagues and on social media.)

So here’s the thing. If I can still speak up and be heard on climate, with a tiny group, a tiny budget, and only my keyboard as my megaphone, why can’t these companies with their billions, their communications platforms, and their phalanx of lobbyists? Amid the fires and floods, why are they mostly silent on important state policy battles now unfolding across the country, and why haven’t they raised their voices loudly to defend the Inflation Reduction Act, which has already come under attack?

I regularly reflect on the calls to courage in companies – Facebook’s posters saying “what would you do if you weren’t afraid?” come to mind – and wonder WTF companies are so afraid of that they won’t speak up. Losing a few million? From where I sit, that seems a small price for courage. (For one example, Apple made $99.8 billion in net profit in 2022 – almost $11.4 million per hour.)

I’ve written that this is the moment for companies to speak out everywhere they have power and influence. I’m getting up every day and continuing to help lead ClimateVoice – alongside our co-ED, Deborah McNamara, and the rest of our small but powerful team – in the relentless determination to get companies into this fray. I’m inspired by the courageous example of Casey Harrell at the Sunrise Project, who continues to fight for climate while battling ALS. I won’t give up or stop until I hear pro-climate companies speak up and fight for climate policy like they really mean it.

My ears are working just fine, by the way. Can I hear you, Microsoft? Can I hear you, Meta? Google? Apple? Where’s your climate voice?