I grew up in the 1960s and ’70s in the upper Deerfield River valley on the Massachusetts side of the Vermont border. Our backyard abutted Sherman Reservoir in Monroe (population 200); our house, a mile away from any other. I spent time exploring the surrounding woods and nearby Tower Brook throughout the seasons, enjoying the birds and trees that I had learned to identify at our grammar school.
Like most rural folks, we lived within the cycles of nature. Our yard boasted violets, clover and johnny-jump-ups, along with grass. We reveled in picking wild blueberries and blackberries and kept a vegetable garden, which, along with local farmstands, provided a bounty of produce for us to freeze or can to enjoy over the long winter.
My family had a particular reason to follow weather conditions closely. My dad was superintendent for New England Power, responsible for a string of hydroelectric plants and Bear Swamp, a pumped storage facility that came online in 1974, after six years of construction. My sisters and I often visited the stations and reservoirs with Dad and shared in his weather and climate concerns. It was important to prepare for expected rain and to know the water content of the snowpack in order to plan for spring runoff.
My appreciation for the natural world deepened when I attended Smith College in Northampton, Mass. The campus is itself an arboretum, with its Botanic Gardens also comprising numerous gardens, natural areas and the Lyman Conservatory. As a liberal arts college with an open curriculum, Smith afforded the opportunity to choose from many elective courses beyond my major. I deepened my knowledge with several geology courses, including a late ’70s incarnation of introductory environmental science and a course in meteorology and climatology.
Since 1982, I’ve lived in the Binghamton, NY, area. While my town’s population is 100 times larger than Monroe’s and houses are much closer together, our home is adjacent to a wooded area so we still enjoy daily contact with nature. Our yard has numerous wildflowers and other native and naturalized species which support pollinators, birds and other wildlife.
Our daughters both studied environmental science in high school, with our younger daughter majoring in it at Cornell, followed by obtaining a master’s in conservation biology of plants from SUNY-Environmental Science and Forestry. We have all watched with alarm the growing impacts of the climate crisis, including record heat, snowfall, and floods of the Susquehanna.
From Climate Appreciation to Climate Action
Around 2010, Binghamton became the epicenter of the rush to use hydraulic fracturing to extract methane from the Marcellus shale in New York State. Hydrofracking was already causing negative environmental, health, and social impacts for our Pennsylvania neighbors. I joined a coalition of New Yorkers to assist them and to prevent the spread of shale gas development to our state. My main role was writing comments on press articles as part of the Rapid Response Team. Using information from experts such as Cornell’s Bob Howarth and Tony Ingraffea on methane and rock fracture mechanics and Ithaca College’s Sandra Steingraber on environmental and health impacts, our team was able to address misinformation and the fossil fuel industry’s propaganda.
I learned to tailor comments to suit particular purposes, such as dealing with impacts on water, air, land, atmosphere and/or climate; health problems for people, animals and plants; social disruption; waste disposal and radiation; and economic shenanigans. I was able to offer alternatives for job creation and energy production, such as weatherization and leasing land for renewable energy production instead of fracking. In December, 2014, the Cuomo administration announced that high-volume hydraulic fracturing would be banned in New York, due to negative health impacts. Five years later, this administrative ban was passed into law by the legislature.
‘I continue to be involved with efforts to move from fossil fuels to renewable energy and to limit the damages of climate change.’
I continue to be involved with efforts to move from fossil fuels to renewable energy and to limit the damages of climate change. I contact government officials and support several environmental organizations. I write posts about these issues on my blog. Our family has worked on decarbonizing our home and most of our transportation, including weatherization projects, a geothermal heating/cooling system, energy-efficient lighting, a fully electric vehicle and a plug-in hybrid—all powered by solar panels we own on a community solar farm. I’m happy to report that my dad lived long enough to see his daughter power her home with renewable energy.
With the release of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home in 2015, which influenced the Paris climate agreement, I became more explicit about how Catholic social justice doctrine, including care for creation and for the vulnerable, underlies my environmental advocacy. I now serve on the Creation Care Team of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Binghamton, which is implementing its own decarbonization plan.
I also joyfully volunteer with Third Act, the organization co-founded by Bill McKibben for those ages 60 and older who are dedicated to issues around climate and democracy. I was involved with the launch of the Upstate New York working group and now volunteer with their Clean Energy and Climate Action group.
I feel as though all my life experiences have brought me to this place where I can work with other elders and partner with younger generations to address the critical crises we are facing and build a more stable and equitable world.
Last fall, our area was once again threatened by fracking, this time using supercritical carbon dioxide. Because New York’s ban specified injection of a certain volume of water, the law needed to be amended. The original coalition that had worked to enact the ban sprang back into action and Third Act Upstate New York immediately joined the effort. The legislation passed in March, 2024, and, as I write this in August, our group is continuing to urge the governor to sign the bill.
In my 50s, I returned to my childhood love of writing poetry. When Silver Birch Press announced their “How to Heal the Earth” series, I wrote this poem in response.
How I Help Heal the Earth from Upstate New York
✔ Install LED lights
✔ Buy solar panels
✔ Drive an electric car
✔ Insulate
✔ Switch on heat pump
✔ Switch off natural gas
✔ Be efficient
✔ Eat less meat
✔ Eat more plants
✔ Grow more plants
✔ Read the science
✔ Educate yourself
✔ Educate others
✔ Vote
✔ Write elected officials
✔ Call elected officials
✔ March
✔ Make noise
✔ Demand action
✔ Boycott climate culprits
✔ Support climate defenders
✔ Assist victims
✔ Honor Indigenous peoples
✔ Follow the youth
✔ Keep my head above water
✔ Hope
✔ Breathe
It will take all of us, acting as individuals and as local, national, and global communities to bring about the changes we need to help heal the Earth. I’m grateful to be able to join with other elders in that work.
A rural New-England native, Joanne Corey is a late-blooming poet and blogger who lives with her family near Binghamton, NY. She is the author of “Hearts” (Kelsay Books, 2023) and invites you to visit joannecorey.com for poetry links and her eclectic blog, Top of JC’s Mind.
Photo caption: Author Joanne Corey in her backyard, with native plantings.
Photo credit: Courtesy Joanne Corey
