Global Climate Action Summit 2018
Blog 7: Where is Heaven? – And what does it look like?
Alison Holmes reports from the heart of the GCAS
Published on September 15, 2018
www.globalclimateactionsummit.org

One particularly striking example of a more philosophical side of the summit was offered by the first African American astronaut, Mae Jemison. Jemison recalled that her impression of space was not a sense of feeling small, but one of feeling large. All at once, she said, she was part of the whole universe while more connected to the stars within herself in a way she had never felt on earth. Her identity as an 'earthling' became the focus of her work after NASA and the thin blue line of the atmosphere that "makes the earth sparkle from space" became her vocation.

Her call to action was perhaps less political or policy-wonk than Al Gore's message, but it was personal and expansive at the same time. She asked simply that her audience look up – up to the sky. To recognize and be humbled by the ancient history of the stars in human endeavor while also understanding it as a true connector of peoples and places in this modern moment of crisis and change. The knowledge, perspective and tools we gain from space, she argued, have a timeless ability to be our guide here on earth – if only we look up.

Perhaps a more surprising example of someone reaching for the heavens was Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles. He really had a storming summit and doubtless will go back to LA pleased and proud of his performance and the showcasing of his city. He was doing press conferences with his fellow international mayors as part of the C40 and talking up his role as a leader of the Climate Mayors here in the United States. He was saying all the right things and being seen with all the right people.

Yet, for all his energetic announcements and impressive initiatives in LA, it was a rather more personal sounding moment that stood out. He concluded his remarks (which followed Al Gore who he recognized as both "prophet" and "pastor" of biblical proportions to the environmental movement) with a rather unusual quote from Robert Browning. Garcetti explained it was a line from a poem he was reading and rereading of late, implying it had become a refrain for his own leadership and effort that "a man’s reach should exceed his grasp". He repeated it because it is clearly a counter-intuitive construct that one’s reach should exceed one’s grasp and that is because, as Browning asks and Garcetti seemed to approve of the sentiment - "Or what’s a heaven for?"

It was an inspiring quote in that dark and almost mystical space, but it is a melancholy thought and made all the darker if one actually goes to the poem. In "Andrea del Sarto" Browning is taking the voice of an artist at the literal twilight of his career. He sits by a window at the end of the day, his wife’s hand in his own. He is seemingly content with the silver and gray tones of his old age and even his relative obscurity because, as he explains, he has the love of his wife - for whom we gather he gave up his place in the French king’s court. He talks about his own technical prowess over that of his rivals and even points out that those other painters did not have families and therefore, we should assume, must be lonely – though he concedes, they have their art. However, it becomes clear by the end that he will also be alone because his wife is off to meet her lover. He not only allows her to go, but it seems he makes it possible.

The poem is essentially about decisions made in the pursuit of some form of heaven, whether the satisfaction of a life’s work can weighed against that of a happy personal life, and ultimately the sacrifices that both can entail. At this summit and from the perspective of a young and clearly ambitious mayor, it was interesting to say the least. On the one hand, and in that dark seat, it felt like a very revealing insight as to the inner dialogue of a young leader who appreciates that few public careers end without disappointments of various kinds. Alternatively, and more broadly, it could be a prescient observation by a man, still young, who already sees the potential for a sense of yearning for the road less taken - whatever choices one makes in life. There is a precarious balance between personal happiness and a career or the work we do, particularly on long-term issues such as the environment that have no ‘solution’ or final success. However (and perhaps more likely) it was a speechwriter who did not think the audience would think too deeply about the context and simply see the mayor as a man who reaches for heaven. The real puzzle is that I am not sure which explanation I prefer – but I found I liked the mayor whatever the answer.

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