“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more “successful” people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every shape and form. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane.” –David Orr, What is Education For? 1991
I first read this quote in a graduate course studying environmental education in 2013. While it struck me at the time, I didn’t quite realize that it would become my compass. The phrase “live well in their places” has rung through my head at important choice points over the last decade- in my education and professional practice, am I helping those around me live well in their places? As a consumer and planet dweller, am I living well in my place? As a community member to humans and nonhumans, am I contributing to others to be able to live well in their place?
Having a deep sense of place or home has always been a part of me. Growing up in South Minneapolis 8 blocks away from where my mother and her six siblings grew up meant I always heard generational stories about my neighborhood. Uncle Jimmy played hockey there, mom got into a fight on the steps of that school, and everyone biked to the Dokken’s for candy. I continued exploring the city with my friends throughout elementary, middle, and highschool, widening our radius of travel the older we got and further we could bike. The phrase “sense of place” didn’t mean anything to me then, but now I see how fortunate I was to develop a deep sense of place at a young age.
In Minneapolis, my sense of place was very much rooted in the spatial geography, physical landmarks, and relationships with kin. 10 years ago I moved to the North Woods of Minnesota, studying to become a Naturalist. During those studies, I expanded my understanding of a sense of place through an intentional practice encouraged by our mentors to slow down and pay attention.
While it sounds simple, it is one of the hardest practices to make a habit, but my world expanded. I learned to notice the differences between fir and spruce trees; I followed lynx tracks through the deep snow and saw the imprint where it had bedded down for a nap (just like my cats!); and I felt the awe of realizing it was the chickadee who greets me with that familiar call, “Heeeyy Sweeet-eee,” reminding us that spring is on its way. My year of intensive Naturalist studies ended in a revelation- my connection to place in Minneapolis isn’t so different from the North Woods. Both require the practice of noticing my surroundings, building relationships, and being present—all of which can be applied wherever I go.
I decided to stay in that forested town of 300 people in Northern Minnesota and have been here ever since. Through observation, I’ve experienced the natural cycles of plants, animals, and seasons. I’ve learned the history of this land- stories of sorrow, collaboration, and “sisu” (Finnish for determination). I’ve worked with folks who have a deep love of this place; they’ve shown me the power of showing up in community, especially when things are tough. I will never be “from here,” as that phrase is reserved for the families that have lived here for generations, but I can definitely call this place home.
What climate change threatens is the ability for all living beings to not only have a home but to feel that sense of place that allows for inner peace and connection to community. Climate change has made it harder to understand and predict the natural cycles around us. I feel uneasy when it is 45 degrees in December, not only because I love winter more than anything, but because my sense of place has thus far relied on being able to anticipate the seasons that govern my life. While this disturbs me on an emotional level, these seasonal unpredictabilities have physical and deadly effects on the nonhuman beings that use temperature cues to know how and when to live their lives.
The region I live in has been named a climate refuge, a place where those displaced by the impacts of climate change may move to. I’ve benefited from those before me welcoming me to this place, and I’m honored to be in a position to welcome others.
However, I’ve noticed a trend that so far, those moving here are not those in need of a new, healthy home. Rather, it is those who want a second home to use for vacation or to “escape to when things get really bad”- a quote I’ve heard from many. Migration has been and will always be part of human history. And, let me be clear, I am someone who has benefited from being able to relocate. What bothers me is this feeling that some folks who move here or other places like this in the world, consider it to be “empty” because there are fewer people and structures than they are used to. This makes it much easier to feel that actions in these rural areas have no impact. Practicing a sense of place can teach us otherwise and help us not only live well in our places but also move well to others.
While those with excess and wealth buy up the housing stock only to sit empty, families who live here are becoming a different type of displaced from rising property taxes and unaffordable homes. If this continues, there is no way this place will be a climate refuge for those truly impacted by the impacts of climate change. Climate change has and continues to be a product of rampant capitalism. Its impacts will allow those with the most to continue to benefit at the expense of those with the least.
Unless, of course, we do something about it.
I see solutions all around me from folks working to create regional food systems, to communities protecting and preserving their housing stock, to educators teaching their students how to live well in their places.
It is this moral courage that inspires me to continue to show up, even when things are hard, working together one project, class, or conversation at a time, to leave behind a habitable and humane world for future generations to one day call home.
Danielle strives to bring people together to co-create a thriving future. Growing up in South Minneapolis, a stone’s throw away from where her mother’s family was raised, Danielle was fortunate to develop a deep love for people and place throughout her childhood. Through being a naturalist and active community member she has learned the value of slowing down, paying attention, and participating in her surroundings. Having a Master’s in Teaching focused on community-centered climate solutions and formerly being a director of a graduate program in environmental education, Danielle has a passion for pedagogy and helping educators offer a promising future for their learners. Living in Finland, Minnesota surrounded by a robust community (human and natural) is inspiring. She loves spending time nesting in her home, cooking elaborate meals, connecting with fellow humans, and moving her body.
The post A reflection on living well in a place appeared first on Climate Generation.
Climate Change
After a week of plenty of activity and drama for Greenpeace at sea, I felt like writing to you on a much quieter theme…
Do you have a favourite book, poem or story about the ocean?
When I was very small, it was the TimeLife book of The Fishes, by F. D. Ommanney, which I remember endlessly poring over, my child’s mind gripped, in total fascination. The cover illustration showed a shoal of barracuda, mid-water and heading upwards, lit up as an iridescent blue by a column of sunlight. Oddly, it is only the cover and the illustrations of the deep sea creatures which I now remember—but I loved that book, as the weakened spine, blunted pages and dog-eared corners attested.
The Fishes has been on my mind recently, because I’ve been working with some dear friends on our own illustrated oceans book, to be published by Upswell Publishing. The book is called Scott Reef: Like Nowhere Else on Earth, and I want to share with you a bit of the story behind its creation.
Scott Reef is absolutely magnificent: Australia’s largest freestanding oceanic reef, brimming with life, including rare and threatened species such as a genetically distinct population of green sea turtles, pygmy blue whales and the wonderfully elegant dusky sea snake. But Scott Reef isn’t near our capital cities; it is way off the north-west coast of WA. And it is threatened with devastation by Woodside, which wants to drill up to 57 toxic wells at the Reef for its vast, dirty Browse gas project.
One of the main challenges in the fight to save Scott Reef from being turned into an industrialised gas zone by Woodside is bringing this incredible location to life for people who haven’t actually experienced it first hand. Because despite its ecological significance and dazzling beauty, ‘Scott Reef’ is also—at least not yet—exactly a household name.
To help get over this barrier, Greenpeace has enabled a number of photographers to travel to Scott Reef by boat (including the Rainbow Warrior) to document its astonishing diversity of colour and life. We then brought these images together in a remarkable photobook, produced by our talented in-house team, which we’ve been putting into the hands of as many leaders as possible—including the MPs whose decisions can determine the Reef’s future.
Back in June this year, I was sharing a copy of our in-house book at a business gathering in Perth when someone pulled me aside. Had we thought about publishing the book commercially? Apart from anything else, he wanted to buy a copy himself! He had a point. We were proud of what we’d created, but a commercially published version could reach a much wider audience and have even greater campaign impact. I immediately turned to my dear friend, Terri-ann White, who runs Upswell Publishing in WA, for advice.
Terri-ann has a huge heart and terrific vision. So many wonderful things in WA owe their existence to her doings, and, true to form, she was immediately encouraging and enthusiastic. “But,” she said, “it would add a whole new dimension if we had some words to accompany the incredible pictures.”
Fair enough, I thought. I could ask a few authors.
“And when would you like it published?” she asked.
“Ideally November,” I answered sheepishly.
Now, in publishing terms, nobody goes from idea to finished work, beautifully produced by a commercial publisher, in just four months. It. Just. Doesn’t. Happen. A book of this scale would ordinarily take nine months, I was told. But Terri-ann was undeterred. “If you can get a rapid turnaround on the writing, I will give it a shot.”
Over the following few days, I sent out 24 emails to prospective writers. To my joy and surprise 23 of them responded almost immediately with an enthusiastic yes!
Terri-ann was somewhat alarmed and perplexed when I told her the good news… we’d discussed a few authors, not more than twenty! “Impossible,” she texted. “Editing is important and you are talking about thousands of words!” But I also know Terri-ann. She does the impossible. And so, here we are… Terri-ann is going to hit that improbable deadline. Scott Reef: Like Nowhere Else on Earth will be on shelves in November.
The contributors are a wonderfully diverse bunch, united by their enthusiasm for Scott Reef — and their extraordinary speed!
It’s a brilliant mix. The book brings together national icons like Peter Garrett, Tim Winton, Mick Dodson, Janet Holmes à Court and Fiona Stanley; the intellectual heft of professors Frank Bongiorno, Jessica Meeuwig, Rick Steiner and Samantha Hepburn; the poetic vision of Prema Arasu, Berndt Sellheim and Saadiah Freeman; the field expertise and passionate first hand witnessing of Imogen Zethoven, Tooni Mahto, Ben Fitzpatrick, Geoff Bice, Olaf Meynecke, Paul Gamblin, Sarah Gittoes and Hayley Baillie; and the determination of emerging activist voices Jackson Reid and Emma Sangalli.
Their elegant words wrap themselves around the sheer wonder of the underwater world, brought to life by the work of the photographers — of whom one, Wendy Mitchell, has also contributed a wonderful essay.
Terri-ann showed me the full physical proofs this week and they are breathtaking. This book contains some of my absolute favourite images of wildlife beneath the waves -– and believe me, after almost 20 years at Greenpeace, I’ve been privileged enough to see some remarkable shots! The essays bring a whole new depth and richness to the story of Scott Reef.
If I am being honest, and maybe a bit sentimental, I hope that a four or five-year-old child somewhere in Australia will spend part of their summer holidays turning the pages of this book, wide-eyed with curiosity and awe at the beauty and strangeness of the creatures that call our oceans home.
Our shared commitment is to make sure that, as those children grow up, the wonders of Scott Reef will exist not just in the pages of the book, but out there in the wild waters off north-western Australia—alive, thriving, and every bit as extraordinary as they are today; a living wonder beneath the waves.
Pre-orders of Scott Reef: Like Nowhere Else on Earth are available here.
Q & A
Sometimes you get asked a question so often that you decide to produce a report to answer it!
We know there is strong public opposition to voter opposition to gas drilling at Scott Reef and fracking in the Kimberley in Western Australia. But I am frequently asked whether, even if people don’t want it, more gas drilling is a necessary evil to sustain WA’s prosperity?
The short answer is an unequivocal ‘No’. The longer answer is our new report, From Gas to Green: Building Western Australia’s Future State, which makes the comprehensive case that Asia’s gas market is declining — while WA has an enormous untapped opportunity to become a global leader in green industries and exports, helping drive the region’s shift away from fossil fuels. The faster that WA embarks on a decisive shift away from gas—and that includes no fracking in the Kimberley, or drilling at Scott Reef — so much the better for the state’s people, ecology and economy.
For the first time, new-energy vehicles (NEVs) made up 67% of new car sales in China in September, according to the latest data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
The figures show that NEVs, which include battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids, captured a record share of sales, even though fewer were sold than last year.
This is because sales of combustion-engine cars are falling steeply, a trend that the CPCA has attributed to rising petrol prices following the start of the Hormuz crisis.
Indeed, sales of fuel-only cars were down 31% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2026, with plug-in hybrid sales down 26% – whereas battery EV sales were only down 4%.
One analyst tells Carbon Brief that China’s rapidly growing EV fleet has offset demand for 143m barrels of oil since the start of the Hormuz crisis.
Another says that the crisis is “reinforcing China’s electrification of road transport”.
Meanwhile, amid slowing domestic sales, Chinese carmakers’ exports of NEVs more than doubled [in 2026 to date / in September] from a year earlier.
NEV record
A record two out of every three cars sold in September in China were NEVs, according to CPCA data, as shown in the figure below.
(NEVs predominantly include battery electric vehicles – BEVs – and plug-in hybrids – PHEVs. BEVs only run on electricity, whereas PHEVs also have a combustion engine.)
This marks a rapid rise for NEVs from just 6% of new car sales in 2020 up to 58% in 2026 to date – and a record 67% in the month of September.
This year, NEVs’ share of sales has also bounced back from a low of 39% in January, after the full purchase tax exemption that had been in place for more than a decade came to an end in December 2025.
The gain in NEV share in 2026 has come amid a slowdown across the wider domestic passenger-car market, which has hit sales of combustion-engine vehicles particularly hard.
This September, passenger-car retail sales across all categories declined, with overall sales volumes falling 28% year-on-year.
The contraction was led by combustion-engine vehicles, which saw sales fall 43% year-on-year in September and 31% in 2026 to date.
However, sales of PHEVs also fell by 36% year-on-year in September and by 26% in 2026 to date. By comparison, BEVs performed better, although sales still declined 8.5% from a year earlier in September and 4% in 2026 to date.
As a result, NEV sales overall fell by 17% in September and 13% in 2026 to date.
While the market changes in 2026 to date were particularly dramatic, they reflect a broad continuation of trends seen over the past decade.
Indeed, sales of combustion-engine cars in China peaked in 2017 and they have been declining ever since, shown in the figure below.
Impact of Hormuz
Part of the reason for the advance of NEVs in 2026, said Chinese technology news outlet OFweek, was petrol cars “giving up market share” as they were outperformed by electric alternatives.
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the CPCA, cited higher petrol prices as an explanation for September’s weak combustion-car sales, in comments to financial news outlet National Business Daily.
Imports of oil into China in January-September have fallen 15% compared to 2025, equivalent to 470m barrels, as ongoing conflict tightened supply and drove up prices.
China’s passenger-car NEV fleet has displaced 143m barrels of oil so far during the strait of Hormuz crisis, Euan Graham, senior energy analyst at thinktank Ember, tells Carbon Brief.
EVs “accounted for 12% of the decrease in China’s oil use post-Hormuz”, according to an estimate provided to thinktank the Brookings Institute by an unnamed analyst.