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Sage Neighbor | On Building Community

For nearly a decade, I’ve been writing about how we can live more sustainable, eco-friendly lives, especially with kids. Through increasingly divisive battles about the “right” ways to move forward, we always come back to strong and resilient communities propelled by conversation, collective action, grace, and cooperation. I’d love for you to subscribe to the newsletter and join a thoughtful conversation on climate action and building community through connection and civic engagement as sage neighbors.

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a little story about my little tesla

Back in 2012 (maybe 2013?), I dreamed of getting a Tesla! I was an auditor for a large public accounting firm serving private equity and venture capital funds. I remember sitting in a VC fund client’s office in Palo Alto, California (the heart of Silicon Valley), where he told me about buying one of the first Tesla Model S cars just a few weeks earlier. I was young and had nowhere near enough money to buy one, but I told him I’d love to have one someday. In 2021, I finally drove that Tesla...

Last fall, I'd had enough. 🤬 It started long before the fall, but that was the tipping point (though my frustration continues). I am fed up with the misinformation and disinformation. I have seen enough of flooding the zone with sh*t at the national level that fills (and poisons) the void of limited to no local media in our communities. I am sick of the increasingly repugnant, divisive vitriol and hatred. I loathe that political partisanship waits in the wings of any casual conversation,...

Enough is enough. Or shall I say, enough is enough is enough is enough. What are we doing??! Where are we headed? 😵💫 The world is changing (some might say collapsing). The climate - political, environmental, and community - is scorched. Someone needs to put out the fire. Why not you and me? 🫵🏻 This is the renewed focus of Sage Neighbor. it’s falling apart Things we once took for granted no longer seem reliable. Safe homes in a predictable climate. Democracy. (Mostly) equal rights for women....

The world is changing. Things we once took for granted don't seem so solid anymore. Safe homes in a predictable climate. Democracy. A government that (generally) follows laws and norms, holds people accountable for bad behavior, and maintains a semblance of order and fairness. (Mostly) equal rights for women. Access to truth. Commitment to science. It's all on its way out the door. As a millennial growing up in the United States, I've only known a world where the systems and social structures...

This picture sums up my thoughts on RFK Jr. taking on unhealthy corporate forces inside the Trump administration. While the picture was supposedly a joke (a great marketing opportunity for McDonald's), the caption from the original social media post says it all. “Make America Healthy Again starts TOMORROW.” This defines MAHA's future—it starts tomorrow, always tomorrow, and then the next day, and the next day. But today (and for all the “todays” into the foreseeable future), the rest of...

While so many spent the last week dissecting what went wrong for Harris and Walz (the hot takes are exhausting), I reflected, read, listened, and took notes. I'm angry, sad, confused, nervous, dismayed, and appalled. I'm surprised... sort of... but not really? I've seen myriad explanations blaming everyone, no one, immigration, gender, the patriarchy, racism, sexism, and, of course, "it's the economy, stupid." Those factors probably all played a part in the tragedy of Donald “The Garbage Man...

Since watching the explosion of the Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, which is aligned in many ways with climate advocacy, I've been confused about its attachment to a party uninterested in regulation. The supposed MAHA priorities are laden with demands for regulation over Big Food, Big Ag, and Big Pharma, so why are they tying themselves to a political party openly disinterested in the regulation of much of anything (other than women's bodies)? I understand why Republicans want to...

The RFK Jr x Trump collab is mid. RFK Jr is doing it for the plot, but he's delulu. If my pre-teen boys asked me about the RFK Jr x Trump ship, I'd tell them it seems like little more than FWB. RFK Jr is skibiti Ohio, and Trump is cappin' as usual, pretending RFK Jr is fire just to woo the wellness base. RFK stans are vibing with the publicity and promise they're getting now. But after November 5, Trump will throw shade at RFK Jr's cheugy priorities and beige flags. RFK Jr will be a beta with...

Sometimes, I discuss big topics with friends and family (like why Harris is more qualified to be president than Donald) but in a way that hopefully helps us connect and understand instead of argue. Other times, those conversations are about more the minutiae of life, like getting real-deal facts about the cost of charging EVs from people who drive them daily in the suburbs of “Picket Fence Americana” (that’s me 🙋🏻♀️). Today’s docket addresses the mystery of money when swapping gas for...

Scrolling through the 'gram the other day, this clip from @KamalaHQ (her rapid response social media channel) highlighted Mark Cuban's conviction that Harris' economic policies are better for investors and entrepreneurs than Trump's plan. Goldman Sachs agrees. kamalahq A post shared by @kamalahq I appreciated his informed input, but something Cuban said in passing struck me. He said: "The higher the capital gains tax, the more difficult it is to invest in riskier investments. And the people...