Free The Next Eco-Warriors by Emily Hunter

unstable climate .

    While others look to Senate bills or UN accords for a climate solution, we look to our best engineers. And our expert team has come up with a solution in perfect accord with our values. The SurvivaBall .
    I covered myself in a layer of snot and tears after laughing so hard. The fact that there were others trying to work toward solving climate change andactually had a sense of humor about it was artificially comforting to me. Not that my sigh of relief was because there was a suit out there claiming to be the be-all, end-all solution for catastrophic weather, it was just nice to know that there were others that had the same thought processes that I do.
    Most of the campaigns and messaging in environmentalism encompassed the “doom and gloom” approach, that if you don't help us save the world right now , we're all going to die, and it will be all your fault . While this message accurately conveys urgency and severity, having studied people's perceptions and reactions to climate change during my graduate studies, I knew that it was also ineffective and overused. If the environmental movement wanted to educate the mainstream public in order to inspire, mobilize, and take action, it would have to step out of its comfort zone. Let's face it, people like to be entertained, and besides, who said saving the world couldn't be fun?
    If the environmental movement wants to educate the mainstream public, it has to step out of its comfort zone. Let's face it, people like to be entertained, and besides, who said saving the world couldn't be fun?
    The SurvivaBall was the brainchild of a group called The Yes Men. In the activist world, they are well known for impersonating large corporations in order to publicly embarrass them and expose the truly disgusting world of corporate greed. One time they posed as Exxon executives and introduced a new fuel called Vivoleum made entirely out of climate change victims. Another time they posed as Dow Chemical on the BBC to announce complete remediation to the victims of the Bhopal tragedy. Naturally, these stunts garner lots of media attention, which then creates a level platform to talk about the real issues these companies hide behind expensive PR campaigns. Then, to further rub sand in the wound, The Yes Men make documentaries about all their exploits. But I had never actually heard of them until I read that email.
    After grad school, I started working on a climate change documentary. I became fully enthralled with the documentary-film industry and soon waslooking for other possibilities when the project started coming to a close. My producer, a mutual friend of The Yes Men, suggested I go help with their documentary. Fast-forward a few emails, and I found myself entering a claustrophobic little office currently serving as Yes Men HQ. Taken aback by the mess before me, I pushed a pile of papers aside to place my laptop down as I noticed tapes and books lining the walls while reams of (fake) newspapers barricaded the corner. This was no well-oiled machine; instead, I found myself immersed in a ragtag team of activists. I was trying to figure out where they kept the pitchforks and torches hidden in the haphazardly cluttered office when I met Larken, the artist who had once provided gourmet service on a NYC subway car. There was Joseph, who would occasionally find himself flailing on the floor wondering why he didn't have a real career as a respectable journalist. Then there was Andy and Mike, the original Yes Men, who went together like peanut butter and jelly, except peanut butter was a bit high maintenance. It wasn't until I met Rocco, the undocumented nomadic homeless guy, that I started wondering what I had gotten myself into.
    Somehow, one week later, I got promoted to SurvivaBall Commander, a title I'm sure my parents and Columbia University were proud of. But there I was, suddenly in control of an army of twenty-five to be unleashed upon the city and around the country. It