By: George C. Keefe
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​The whistle of bombs over Dunkirk's beaches.

The choking dust clouds in Lower Manhattan.

Two moments of crisis, separated by six decades but united by an astounding truth: when humanity faces its darkest hours, ordinary people rise to perform the extraordinary.

Today, as we confront the climate crisis, these historic rescues offer powerful lessons about our capacity for collective action.

In 1940, nearly 340,000 Allied soldiers faced annihilation on France's northern coast.
The response?

A flotilla of 933 vessels, from navy destroyers to small fishing boats, crossed the English Channel repeatedly under enemy fire.

Civilian sailors in pleasure craft braved bullets and bombs alongside military vessels, all focused on a single mission: saving as many lives as possible.

Sixty-one years later, on September 11, 2001, as Manhattan choked on the ashes of the fallen towers, another maritime miracle unfolded.

In just nine hours, some 150 vessels – from luxury dinner boats to humble tugboats – evacuated half a million people from Lower Manhattan.

This spontaneous rescue surpassed even Dunkirk in scale, becoming the largest maritime evacuation in history.

These events share a crucial characteristic: they succeeded because everyone was welcome to help.

There was no competition, no concern about who would get credit.

Vessel size and type didn't matter.

What mattered was the willingness to act.

Today, we face a different kind of crisis – one that threatens not just a beach or a city, but our entire planet.

The challenge of climate change might seem overwhelming: we need to remove one trillion tons of CO2 from our atmosphere by 2050 to restore a safe climate.

That's a number so large it's hard to comprehend: 1,000,000,000,000 tons.

But like those brave souls at Dunkirk and on 9/11, we at Restore The Climate (RTC) know that seemingly impossible tasks become achievable when we unite in common cause.

Nature has already shown us it's possible – the Earth has removed this much CO2 before.

Now it's our turn to replicate that feat, not with a flotilla of boats, but with an army of solutions and innovators.

Just as no boat was too small to help at Dunkirk or Manhattan, no climate solution is too modest to contribute to our goal.

We welcome all approaches: enhanced natural processes, technological innovations, and community-based initiatives.

What matters isn't who gets credit or whose solution is "best" – what matters is achieving our shared mission of a safe climate by 2050.

The clock is ticking.

Tic Toc – It’s Getting Hot!!!

To hit our 2050 target, we need to scale up climate restoration solutions dramatically by 2030.

But if history teaches us anything, it's that humanity is capable of remarkable achievements when we work together.

The "little ships" of Dunkirk and the volunteer vessels of 9/11 remind us that our greatest strengths lie not in individual heroics, but in collective action.

The climate crisis is our Dunkirk, our 9/11 moment.

And like those historic rescues, success will come not from a single solution or entity, but from millions of people and thousands of approaches, all working toward the same goal.

At RTC, we're committed to fostering this inclusive, collaborative approach to climate restoration.

The future isn't written yet.

But if we act with the same unity of purpose that turned the tide at Dunkirk and evacuated Manhattan, we can write a story of hope, resilience, and triumph.

The next chapter begins with you.

Will you join our fleet?

                                                                             WE KNOW YOU CAN’T GIVE TO EVERY CAUSE.
                                                                                NEXT TIME YOU DO PLEASE THINK OF US.
​​​​​​​​​​​                                                            Donate HERE: https://www.restoretheclimate.org/donation
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Note: The Author, George C. Keefe is an Environmentalist, Green Coatings Enthusiast, Advisor, Contractor, Consultant, Vegan, Blogger, Podcaster. Protecting the Health of People & Planet. CEO & Founder at GLOBAL Encasement, Inc., Restoration & Management vs Removal & Replacement. Why Replace – Just Encase!

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