Unrealistic Expectations

I agree with a lot that Maniates has to say regarding the majority attitude towards climate change – it is not at the forefront of most people’s minds and is not seen as a dire enough problem to take seriously. This is why Maniates and the other readings we’ve covered thus far have tried to convey a sense of urgency appropriate to the magnitude of the environmental problems we face. However, despite these efforts, environmental policies haven’t been able to hold their own in the mainstream political arena against issues such as the debt ceiling or the war in Afghanistan. So, without this urgency, Maniates is right to point out that “we, by nature, aren't terribly interested in doing anything that isn't private, individualistic, cost-effective and, above all, easy.”

Maniates also notes that we need “fundamental change” in terms of our environmental policies, which I agree with, but doesn’t suggest any methods for how the average American can help achieve this goal. Is a simple call for additional advocacy by constituents to their congressmen and women sufficient? If not, does the country need to be worked into a fervor similar to what the debt ceiling negotiations created this summer? If that’s the case, what is the best way to stir a populace that has been complacent and relatively inattentive to this issue for so long? Maniates concludes by discussing the need for short term sacrifice to facilitate long term gains, a request that might have been viable when he wrote the article in 2007, but one that is much more difficult to ask for when the nation is attempting to recover from a recession.