Jane Fonda: ‘If Greta Thunberg can do it, so can I’.
In an exclusive extract from her new book, the actor recalls the beginnings of her climate crisis protests outside the White House.
uring Labor Day weekend in 2019, I was in Big Sur with my pals Catherine Keener and Rosanna Arquette. I’ve been an environmental activist since the 1970s, installing a windmill at my ranch in 1978 and solar electricity in my Santa Monica home in 1981, speaking at rallies. And later, getting an electric car, stopping my use of single-use plastic and cutting back on red meat.
But I was still ill at ease. I had just learned that there are 2.9 billion fewer birds in North America than there were in 1970. I knew that sea turtles are being strangled by tumours caused by pollution in the oceans, and untold numbers of people were living in the midst of oil wells and refineries. But I hadn’t really focused on what the scientists were saying. I knew we needed to invest in clean energy alternatives, fast, but these things remained a disturbing reality sitting out there somewhere, removed from me.
I knew this fatalist thinking was a cop-out. Catherine reminded me recently how, on the five-hour drive to Big Sur, she would go on an hourly rant: What can I do? Where are the leaders? I need someone to tell me what to do! I felt impotent, angry with myself for my inability to give her answers because I felt the same way.
The morning we left for Big Sur, I’d received an advance copy of Naomi Klein’s book, On Fire: The (Burning) Case For A Green New Deal. I was moved by the way Naomi wrote about Greta Thunberg, the brave, young student exhorting us to get out of our comfort zone and do something. And the fact that we don’t stand a chance at changing course in time without profound change.
When you’re famous, there are so many ways to lift issues and amplify voices. God knows I’ve done it before, with varying degrees of success. I knew what I needed to do, and I felt it so strongly I was quivering all over. “I’m going to move to Washington DC for a year and camp out in front of the White House to protest against climate change,” I told Rosanna and Catherine over dinner. “If Greta can do it, so can I.” I’d said it to my pals, and I couldn’t back out. Being brave, gung ho gals, Catherine and Rosanna were all for it and pledged to join me when they could.
Over the next few days we hiked, and I kept reading Naomi’s book. I felt more strongly that if I got the word out, others would join me. It had happened before during the later years of the Vietnam war. I’ve done a lot of camping in my life and had all the right equipment, but I’d never camped in a city. Where will I poop and pee? I wondered. I’m way older now and have to get up during the night more often. We studied maps of DC, trying to pick a spot where I would set up, but I realised I didn’t want a lonely vigil. I needed expert help to plan this. That’s when I decided to call Annie Leonard, the director of Greenpeace USA.
“Annie, it’s Jane Fonda here, do you have a minute? I’m reading Naomi’s book, and I’ve decided to move to Washington for a year and camp out in front of the White House. I want to start in three weeks. Can you help me figure it out?” I’m someone who, when she gets an idea, is 100% ready to take a leap of faith. In fact, leaps of faith are my only form of exercise these days.
There was a long silence, and then she said, “Well, Jane, that’s wonderful and I’m blown away that you’re ready to put yourself out there like that, but you can’t camp overnight in Washington. It’s illegal since Occupy Wall Street camped there. But let’s figure out what is possible.” She offered to set up a conference call with her, Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org, Naomi Klein, the environmental lawyer Jay Halfon, and me. Bill suggested a once-a-week protest that involved civil disobedience. Fridays had been claimed by Greta Thunberg and the student climate strikers, but the youth had also called on adults to join them. “Maybe you could do an action on Fridays as well.”
I’d been getting ready for this my whole adult life – a weekly action that culminated in nonviolent civil disobedience. And I wouldn’t have to worry about pooping. I began planning for the maximum time I could spend in DC before I had to get ready to film our last season of Grace And Frankie on 27 January 2020. It added up to four months, 14 Fridays.
I asked Debi Karolewski, who began assisting me in the early 80s, to come with me. I knew I’d need my little dog, Tulea. I couldn’t imagine being without her for four months. I also knew how sad I’d be not to see my 10-week old grandson, Leon, for that long.
But I had come to realise that as important as our individual lifestyle decisions are, they cannot be brought to scale in time to get us to where we need to be by 2030. It’s structural change that we need to focus on while continuing our individual commitments to the planet. Maybe the Friday actions would help bring about that policy change.
On 27 September, en route to the Los Angeles airport, my little Tulea had a seizure; she had been diagnosed with an enlarged heart. My own heart sank as I came to grips with the fact that I’d have to leave her behind.
I conjured up the image of Greta. You have to leave your comfort zone. I left. It wasn’t easy.
• What Can I Do? by Jane Fonda is published by HQ, at £20. To order a copy for £17.40, go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
5 September 2020
The Guardian
