What I Learned

This course definitely cemented my interest in protecting the environment. But one of the things that I think will be most beneficial to me for the future, is knowing how to question and be critical of things in order to better understand them. When we talked in class, Professor Nicholson often pushed us, or played the devil's advocate, so that we could question ourselves and our own beliefs in order to understand WHY we believe something, whether that belief was unfounded, or what it even was that we believed.

I learned a lot about a wide range of issues, as well. Environmental issues penetrate every aspect of life, and this class has taught me to look at my actions and how they affect the planet and other people. Now, if I want to buy something, I often ask "Do I really need it? Or am I buying it just because it's easier, or I want it right now? Can I live without this?" These questions have really helped me to see how my daily actions were affecting the environment, especially those actions that I didn't even realize I was doing.

The politics of the environment was something else that I learned quite a bit about. I often avoid anything labeled "politics," so it was interesting to take a class that helped me to better grasp what policies are driving the environmental movement and impact environmental issues. I also learned about effective forms of action, which I think is something that really must be analyzed. Next year, I will be participating in Green Corps, and I will be attempting to "organize" and take other actions to protect the environment, so scrutinizing different methods was something that I found very beneficial in my Green Corps interview and in considering how I will function within Green Corps next year.

Thank you for a great class, Professor!

Lessons Learned

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."

Abraham Lincoln

When I initially enrolled in International Environmental Politics, I did so without having much of an idea of the size and scope of material that our class would eventually cover. A course in environmentalism, I reasoned, would be an excellent way to broaden my academic experience during my final year at American University. As my concentration lay in international development, I did not expect that such a course would involve such complex, politically charged debates over issues of sovereignty, human rights and economic considerations characteristic of other SIS courses. Over the past fourteen weeks, I have observed how interconnected environmental concerns are to international relations, and how significant the repercussions of policy, beneficial or detrimental, can be. For this reason, there are four important points that merit special mention.

I. Believe in the institution.

Especially after reading Michael Maniates' article, "The Individualization of Responsibility," the futility of over-relying on disconcerted, individual, consumer based efforts to solve the global issue of climate change became clear. This is not to say that one should not recycle, or that riding a bicycle should be discouraged, but rather that the world in which we live is dominated by powerful, large-scale institutions that exert a high degree of political influence and economic leverage over our society. Meaningful change, therefore, must take place at the top as well as at the bottom. This may deviate from the conventional idea of grassroots level activism, but the article "Leverage Points" by Donella Meadows provided a strong case for this manner of thinking, as well as a pragmatic way of how to compel change in such institutions. 

2) The art of diplomacy in polarized debates

As was evidenced by class discussions as well as my brief Thanksgiving endeavor, in discussing environmental politics one must be diplomatic in the extreme. Excluding the segment of society that stubbornly refuses to acknowledge climate change as a real, urgent problem, environmental proponents must present their argument in a rational, even-keeled manner, even if they feel that the opposing perspective has no credibility. Appeals that are scientifically sound but presented in an overtly aggressive manner may have the effect of diminishing the receptivity of undecided individuals to the environmentalists' cause. Soft words win hard hearts. 

3) The importance of culture

As I sit in my two bedroom apartment watching football on my flat screen plasma TV while drinking a Starbucks venti Chai Tea Latte while typing this blog on my MacBook Pro and texting my friends on my Motorola smartphone, the culture of consumption, an observation advanced by Eric Assadourian, weighs heavily on my mind. Will it ever be feasible for my fellow countrymen to embrace changes that might reduce the number of conveniences that we enjoy? Will we be able to disassociate the idea of consumption from the way that we measure success or happiness? These may be difficult questions to ask, but they are more difficult to answer. Yet, in looking beyond our borders, it is clear that wealthy, developed countries need not adopt US levels of consumption to maintain a high quality of life. Other countries demonstrate negative rates of growth, proving that it is possible, at least at the national level, to check the expansion of the human population. 

4) The power of humanity to change

Most importantly, and above all else, this course has demonstrated the powers of humanity, though its own constructs, to make significant, far-reaching changes to human behavior. The work of such innovative individuals as William McDonough, the star architect of environmentally friendly buildings and author of Cradle to Cradle, is illustrative of how advances in technology and changes in thought can lead to ideas and initiatives that fundamentally alter the way in which humans live and interact with each other. Humanity is highly adept at improving the existing systems that we have created, but less so at shifting the paradigm of our operations. Only when we are able to objectively evaluate our society in terms of economic productivity in a way that makes environmental sense as well should we begin to improve efficiency. 

What Did We Learn in the Course Tonight Craig

I can’t believe the semester flew by as fast as it did and somehow we are already in December with finals looming over us. When I first walked into class I was really excited to get the course underway. Unlike some people who have posted, I had a large amount of experience from both classes and internships related to environmental policy and politics. However even with all of this knowledge under my belt, this class allowed me to debate these issues with other students from a wide perspective of backgrounds which is something I have never gotten the chance to really do.

The one issue that really struck me throughout the semester though was how much of a role consumption plays on environmental issues. While I might have though Eric Assodorian was an idiot- and kind of called him that to his face, he did raise good points about the role of consumption in society. Using this idea, raising awareness of just how much we use and eat has been lingering around in my mind for the past couple of weeks and actually inspired a part of my environmental art piece.

I also really liked the variety of readings we got to look over this semester. While some professors have had definite slants in their reading choices, I think that the reading choices were fair and balanced and show a large cornucopia of solutions all to the same problem. While some might push for a 1800’s world and other might push for the Jetsons, being able to read about both these extremes and everything in between.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

The past semester of international environmental politics has been both eye opening and frightening in a number of ways, and it is a course that I will not soon forget. Coming into the first day of class in August, I thought I had a decent grip on all things environmental; essentially, the U.S. wasn’t too hot on global warming, Europe was taking action and 2009’s Copenhagen Conference was a complete dud. Little did I know that there was so much more at play than just this. From international environmental governance to human development issues to ideas on sustainability, I realized that to refer to the “environmental movement” refers to an extremely wide breath of issues, issues that aren’t completely covered in the course of a 15 week university class.

The course definitely gave me a new perspective of the global environmental scene, and unfortunately, is leading me to end the semester on a pessimistic note. I’ve seen the effects of climate change and environmental destruction up close, yet the gridlock and ineffectiveness of the environmental governance system has led me to think that nothing can get done. For ten years now at the UN level, it has been the same; media-hyped conferences in faraway exotic locales finishing with no success or advancement to speak of. And as an American, it is sad to see that even on the domestic side of environmental politics, nothing is more important than getting more jobs (no matter what they are) at the expense of environmental degradation.

If there’s anything I’m taking away from this course however, it is a newfound respect for the world we live in. Now when I take hikes back home, I’ll be sure to admire the native foliage and ecosystems much more than I did before the course. The semester has made me realize just how significant all of our small decisions can be, and that no matter what we do, our actions have consequences for all of those around us, whether they’re just down the road or across the country. Thanks for a great semester.

The End Is Near

I was a little nervous to take this class at first because my knowledge of environmental issues was almost zero. Being at a school like AU, where so many people are environmentally conscious, I thought I would be in over my head in a class full of experts. Over the course of the semester, I've learned an incredible amount. The thing that has resonated most with me is a validation of the seriousness of environmental change. Being someone who had only a cursory knowledge of the issues, I never knew who or what to really believe on the reporting of environmental concerns. Now I have a solid baseline of facts that have established my belief in climate change and the acknowledgement that a serious effort needs to be made to reform how we interact with our environment.

Another important thing I will take away from this class is knowing that to effectively confront climate change, idealism is going to have to yield to pragmatism. It's impossible to fix everything right now, so smaller steps will have to be taken to accomplish this goal. Overall, I feel like I learned a lot about a new topic and realized that while the outlook isn't always pretty, it's still not impossible to create change and improve the planet we live on.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

While Damian Carrington lays out a few good reasons why climate change is hard to stop, he is forgetting quite a few reasons for why the problem is not going away. While like most experts Carrington focuses on measurable factors for how to track climate change (energy use, subsidy costs, economic issues), he clearly misses some of the non measurable factors for why climate change keeps on rolling.

The first one of these non measurable factors would be apathy. With problems such as the financial crisis, political disenchantment, and lowering social services right in the face of citizens, dealing with a problem such as climate change is put on the backburner. While climate change does have the very real possibility of creating environmental refugees, and increasing the odds of extreme weather events, to those in the developed world, these issues are “out of sight and out of mind”. Until Manhattan is completely flooded over or the British Isles are swallowed up by the sea, the resources and efforts of the developed world will be severely limited as they look to their own self interest rather then benefit the world.

The other key problem that Carrington fails to mention is the misinformation of climate change being talked about in the media. With rogue news outlets such as Fox News providing legitimacy to the denier movement, individuals still believe that there is a scientific debate on the issue and that the science is not settled. While this might fit the agenda of a small few- Koch Brothers, Big Oil, and The Heritage Foundation to name a few, the selfish interests of these organizations threatens to put the world out of business.

What I am kind of surprised about that Carrington doesn’t talk about is the regressive economics that make fossil fuels so cheap. While Carrington does say how technologies such as carbon capture and storage are unaffordable, Carrington does not make the argument that a rise in gasoline taxes or shifting subsides from oil companies to promising renewable energy products would make these options more palatable.

Stopping climate change, one media outlet at a time

Damian Carrington offered some very helpful insights as to why it has been so difficult to stop climate change. However, I feel that he missed a few very important points.

I think it is incredibly important to note the role of both the media and the people. The media plays a huge role in disseminating information, and often climate change is overlooked, or the information is skewed. It appears to me that most media sources in general are afraid to take a definitive stance on climate change- they often discuss it but as a concept, rather than a fact.

Contributing to the lack of media attention (or the lack of media attention on fact, rather than simply the politics of the matter) is that the science does not appear to be concise, or truthful. Much of the general population is unaware that most studies on climate change do show, to the very best of their ability, that it is happening. As we discussed in class, it is impossible to say, and be 100% sure of, what will happen in the future. Based on this, many people are able to spin the science in their favor. A few important individuals in the media world help to further discount this- it only takes a few important people to start the ball rolling and, eventually, it will catch on and reach the population.

I would also note that the people, the general population, has a lot to do with the lack of action against climate change. On one hand, they are heavily influenced by the media. If the media is ignoring it, or discounting it, you can bet the same trend will prevail among the population.

However, beyond the media, it is important to note culture. Eric Assadourian's article about "consumer cultures" is a great explanation for this. Our culture has shaped us into individuals who want to buy, use, dispose, and begin the cycle again. And we want it all to be easy. Our culture is heavily pitted against the environment. If we will ever see a positive change in the environment, it will almost certainly have to come along with a cultural paradigm shift, as Assadourian noted. When we each calculated our carbon footprint, I think it was made pretty clear that we can not continue at our current rate (not even close!). Each of us are using so many resources that it would take multiple earths to sustain human life if everyone on the planet lived like us.

For these reasons, among others, I think both the media and the individual are two important factors standing in the way of effective action.