Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda’s What Can I Do?: My Path from Climate Despair to Action describes her activist work focused on the Fire Drill Friday protests she helped organize and lead in 2019. The goal of the Fire Drill Fridays was to “pass a Green New Deal, stop fossil fuel expansion immediately, phase out fossil fuels as soon as possible but definitely within thirty years, secure a fair deal for workers and communities most impacted by the transition” as well as to educate the public (pg. 20). This book helps fulfill that final goal, with chapters devoted to subjects such as local efforts to combat climate change, how it affects sea life, the impact on women and gender relations, and more. Fonda worked to ensure that the Fire Drill Friday protests involved more than the usual older, white male experts, bringing in women, young people, Indigenous leaders, POC, and more to ensure an equitable movement (pg. 178).

Fonda hopes that this work will help dispel the fatalism many in the West feel about climate change, assuming they have any awareness of its true impact at all, by including breakdowns at the end of each chapter about what people can do. Fonda summarizes the work of Yale researcher Anthony Leiserowitz, who studied awareness of climate change and concluded “the three countries where people are the least aware of the climate crisis are the United States, Canada, and the U.K.” because “those are the countries where individualism has taken root the most, especially in the last thirty years, fanned by right-wing news outlets like Fox and other Murdoch-owned media” (pg. 67). Fonda summarizes Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield’s interpretation of national security, namely that “money spent improving the living conditions here at home is national security spending. That, not war, is what makes us safe. How secure is a country where children are being poisoned by toxic fumes in their homes, where we are ill-prepared for a pandemic, where too many can’t afford health care and a decent education, and millions are homeless?” (pgs. 86-87). Describing the threat of climate change to water resources, Fonda writes, “Water is no longer infinite… The UN predicts that by 2050 that lack of access to clean water could affect five billion people, half the planet. We may feel safe here in America, but when the U.S. Government Accountability Office surveyed water managers in 2013, it found that forty out of fifty of them anticipated water shortages by 2023” (pg. 120).

What Can I Do? was published during the COVID-19 pandemic and Fonda writes, “Just about every single thing that this government of ours has done is exactly the opposite of what must happen – with a pandemic or with the climate crisis: denial, lack of preparedness, disregard for science, viewing the federal government as merely a ‘backup.’ This is not a drill! It is a vital teachable moment” (pgs. 209-210). Fonda concludes, “It has become clear to me that the fossil fuel industry is anathema to democracy. We cannot continue to depend on fossil fuels and live in a country that calls itself a democracy… Two-thirds of Americans want our government to pass a binding climate treaty. But in 2013, the fossil fuel industry spent $326 million to persuade congressional Republicans and some Democrats to kill just such a treaty” while fossil fuel industries further spend at the state and local levels to quash any attempts to limit their profiteering and extraction at the expense of health and climate concerns (pg. 260). Fonda’s book serves as both a warning of how dire things have become as well as a roadmap for actions everyday people can take and hopefully help our society survive, minimize, and begin to reverse the effects climate change.… (more)

A surprising book. I knew a little bit about Jane Fonda when I started listening to the audiobook so I had a lot to learn. It's always nice to dismantle pre-conceived notions you have of who you think someone is based on the tiny sliver you see of them via media.

The most interesting parts of the book, for me, were when she talked about her activist experiences, particularly when talking to veterans. The Waterbury story was really interesting.

I found that the last 10 minutes of the audiobook, which Fonda read, thank goodness, were really insightful and I wish she had written more. Of course, it may be that at that time in her life, she was starting a new chapter and maybe that will continue in another book!

It's fascinating to me that someone who had such a strong voice in her career, acting roles and activism could shrink so much in her personal life. But I do think that's common so I wasn't surprised per see. I was intrigued and wanted to know more about her life after her relationship with Ted Turner was over. I could have listened to many more chapters on that and on Fonda herself and what she learned. I want to know more about how she found her voice and how she used it.

I'm really glad I read this book. I often wished I had a hard copy so I could underline certain poignant passages, especially toward the end of the book, when Fonda briefly touched upon patriarchy, gender roles and feminism.

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TW: Sexual assault, one brief mention of animal abuse, wartime violence, trauma in childhoods.… (more)