Just after a disaster election, the theme of the Yale Center for Environmental Justice conference,,“environmental joy,” at first seemed incongruous. But the diverse, young, and ready-to-fight group assembled kept returning to the idea that joy could be found in a determined struggle for people and planet.

The Democratic Party’s election night defeats are more than just the consequence of losing touch with working-class and poor voters. It’s that those voters have been leading hard lives for decades because of the nature of the economic and political systems in which we live and work.

New, dreamed-of worlds will not compete yet in today’s practical politics, but they are the first blueprints of the future, the playing fields of radical hope, the dreams that stuff is made of.

What happens tn our politics is of the greatest importance for both people and the planet. And yet, is it possible that in our society politics have become too important?

We need to frame a positive politics for the climate issue, and these silver linings can help.