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Articles by Krystal Ford
Living Green: Burned Out
When my husband and I decided to pack up our life in 2022 and move from Garrison to Lake Placid, a lot of factors went into the decision, such as wanting more outdoor activities and more nature for ourselves and our children. But there was something else driving my decision. I was burnt out from my climate work. I was giving it my all: protesting, writing climate articles, working as the climate coordinator, lobbying, writing this column, making changes in my own lifestyle.
Living Green
Skip to content Posted inColumnists Transforming grief into action Posted inColumnists How to handle droughts and floods Posted inColumnists Tackling the climate crisis in the statehouse Posted inColumnists What to do with your e-waste Posted inColumnists Visions for our world in 2050 Posted inColumnists Envisioning a better tomorrow, with your help Posted inColumnists Who’s funding the climate crisis?
Living Green: Wrangle the Water
It’s raining again. As I type, rain is hitting the hard surfaces of rooftops, parking lots and roads and the result is small rivers flowing down the streets. All the flooding that happened in the Northeast this summer is a reminder that a) this is exactly what experts predicted would happen to our area because of climate change, b) we have failed to mitigate climate change fast enough and c) we are now in the even-less-fun phase: We must mitigate and adapt at the same time.
Living Green: Legislative Wins
If the air isn’t hazy and air quality poor because of Canadian wildfires, our roads are washing away in floods. The climate crisis is playing itself out in our backyard and, while there are a handful of dedicated climate-deniers and players who benefit financially from climate delay, most people are realizing the urgency of our predicament. Will that sense of urgency translate into political action? When the state Legislature wrapped up its session last month, there was progress made.
Living Green: Digital Detritus
I’m no first adopter: I am several iPhone models behind, and I keep my laptops until they die. But my family and I have still managed to rack up an impressive amount of e-waste, which can have a significant impact on the environment when it ends up in landfills. The first step to most human-made problems is to reduce; in this case, reduce the electronic gadgets you buy new. The next best thing is to repair and/or reuse. I recently sent my 3-year-old Microsoft Surface Pro for repair.
Living Green: What’s Your Future? (II)
In my April column I shared my vision for our world in 2050. This month, as promised, I will share visions from members of the community, which were a combination of innovation, restoration, community, health and ecosystems. They represent a change in our attitudes toward and relationships with nature, justice and making the streets safe for all. If we all start to think about what we want to see by 2050, instead of fearing what will happen, I think we can collectively make it come to fruition.
Living Green: What’s Your Future?
Iam great at picturing our climate-induced, dystopian future. I can imagine food and commodity shortages, mass migration, trigger-happy racist militias — basically the Dust Bowl meets Fascism 2.0, sprinkled with The Handsmaid’s Tale. Humans are storytellers and we are good at telling stories about the breakdown of civilization. It’s a Hollywood genre. Too many of us can say what we don’t want but come up short when asked what we do want. Have we lost our ability to imagine progress?
Living Green: Follow the Money
Let’s face it, fossil-fuel companies are incapable of reining themselves in; they have no intention of switching their business practices. They will frack, blow up mountains, drill and destroy a beautiful, pristine, arctic wilderness, home to wildlife and Indigenous people, until the last drop of gas, coal or oil is extracted and our world is a wasteland. They’ve known, for a very long time, the consequences of their products and they do not care. But they have not acted alone.
Living Green: Big Savings Ahead Original
Whenever my friend from Canada and I get together, after we catch each other up on the family news we often segue into grocery prices. “Philadelphia cream cheese, $6!” I say. She volleys back: “$10 for a cantaloupe!” It doesn’t matter where you live, inflation is showing few signs of letting up. I’m hopeful that the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Congress last year, will at least help provide energy relief while reducing carbon pollution.
Living Green: Can We Save Winter?
Iused to fall into the “hate-winter” camp. It meant gray days, long nights, shoveling and having to slow down and put things on hold when the roads were impassable. It was a forced timeout between the more fun and busy seasons. All that changed during the pandemic shutdown. For my own sanity, I forced myself to go outside in all types of weather. Winter took on new meaning: It was an evening bundled up and gathered around a bonfire on New Year’s Eve in 2020 with friends.
Living Green: The Wonders of Heat Pumps
Amonth ago I was at a friend’s newly built home. It’s under 1,000 square feet and well-insulated — yay! But I noticed it was heated with propane. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why they didn’t put in a heat pump. I felt a little deflated. Why are people still defaulting to fossil fuels when, for the same price as the propane heater, they could have installed a heat pump that is more energy-efficient, costs less money to operate, provides better indoor air and is better for the climate?
Living Green: Close to Home
Last month, the World Wildlife Fund released its annual Living Planet Report, and it’s devastating. There has been an average 69 percent decline in the populations of nearly 32,000 monitored species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians since 1970, just 52 years ago. We are living through crises because of the unsustainable use of our planet’s resources.
Living Green: What Schools Can Do
Click to listen to this post. School is back in session. Energy, imagination, laughter and learning pulses in the halls and classrooms for the next 10 months. And while some schools recognize the challenge that climate change poses to students’ future and the necessity of teaching climate science and solutions, there is one glaring disconnect. For one reason or another, schools aren’t practicing what they preach.
Living Green: Climate Justice
Click to listen to this post. As I reflect back on my work as the climate change coordinator for the Town of Philipstown, I am remiss that I didn’t do enough to incorporate climate adaptation and climate justice. The hard truth is maybe I’ve been working hard to save the planet, and inadvertently preserving the status quo? In 2018 I attended a conference in Los Angeles and I remember being horrified to hear the story of a young woman who lived, played and attended school surrounded by oil wells.
Living Green: Re-Re-Decorating
Click to listen to this post. I’ve never been particularly good at or interested in decorating. My style could be described as a mish-mash of farmhouse, French country, apartment furniture purchased by us when we were in our late 20s and antiques given to us by family. But after spending a lot of time in my house these past few years — like everyone else — I was ready for a change.
Top four things to consider before going indie - Krystal Ford
So you wrote a book. Congratulations! Now what? If you can’t find a publisher or an agent to take it on, does that mean your book can’t cut it in the real world? That’s a question I grappled with before I decided to go independent route. The rejection rate in the publishing world is sky-high, but the road to self-publishing is neither smooth nor easy.
LOVE, ACROSS THE DIVIDE
In Ford’s debut novel, an unwed woman has her sights set on political office and searches for a powerful partner to help get her there. Soon after U.S. Rep. White (R-Florida) secures another term, he taps his campaign manager, Megan Thompson, to be his 2018 successor, and he offers her a job as his aide in Washington, D.C., in charge of energy and environmental legislation.
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