Throughout ENVS 160 there have been four distinct sections. There are many connections between the works we have read emphasizing important lessons to better understand environmental thought. The interconnectedness in Environmental Studies shows in the interconnectedness between the works we have read this semester. Three major connections are between Contemporary writings and Who Rules the Earth?, between Why We Disagree about Climate Change and classical thought, and between Making the Modern World and Austerity Ecology & the Collapse-Porn Addicts.
The first connection I found was between the contemporary writings and Who Rules the Earth?. Both and many of the contemporary writings discussed institutional vs individual action. A writer that really discussed the importance of institutional action was Maniates who believed that institutional action was the only way that goals were going to be accomplished. When people think on an individual level there is “little room to ponder institutions, the nature and exercise of political power, or ways of collectively changing the distribution of power and influence in society” (Maniates 2001, 33). Individual thinking narrows what he called environmental imagination, or our (human’s) ability to pursue multiple ideas to solve environmental problems. The only way to help is to think and act institution (Maniates 2001). The main augment in is Who Rules the Earth? that we need to act institutionally and who makes those social rules is important for the future of environmental policy. The whole book is showing that the individual actions many people take are disproportionately small comparted to the damage being done to the earth. The social rules (institutions) we live by have the power to change the mindset of the masses. By making laws out of concerns it becomes easier to create large change that will make an impact (Steinburg 2015)
The second connection I found was the presence of spiritualty or an emotional connection with nature. In many of the works including Why We Disagree about Climate Change and some classical works. Chapter 5 of Why We Disagree about Climate Change was all about what people believe and how that affects how they view environmental problems. Hulme sheds a light on how religion plays an important part of why people have different views on the environment. He also equates the biblical stories of the Apocalypse, constructing Babel, celebrating Jubilee, and Eden to the four ways that people view the constructed idea of climate change later in the book. A person’s spirituality plays an important part in how they approach environmental problems like climate change (Hulme 2009). Another author that disuses spirituality and its connection with nature Naess. This Author discusses the difference between shallow and deep ecology. Deep ecology has seven characteristics and throughout all of them it is easy to see that there is a deeper connection to nature which could be seen as spiritual. People who practice deep ecology have an emotional connection with nature not only a practical one. This isn’t a religion but rather a way to connect more with nature in more than a physical sense (Naess 1973) The reading we have done this semester have shown that how people view spirituality can affect how they see the environment.
The last connection I saw between texts was the use of life cycle analysis. The concept of LCA’s were used to show people options on how to live and which options are the best. We first read about the concept in Making the Modern World and how it is used to find the environmental impacts of a product. This is done on many products and materials to be able to compare how harmful they are to the environment. Smil compared the production of cotton and polyester using LCA’s to show the pros and cons for each. LCA’s take into account burdens imposed by production, use, disposal/reuse, and performance. Smil used LCA’s to show that some materials are better for the environment and better suited for reuse and dematerialization than others (Smil 2014). Another author that used LCA’s to show environmentally sound way of life was Leigh Phillips. During one part of his book Phillips wanted to show that buying local actually isn’t the best choice for the environment sometimes. When looking at the LCA’s Philips explored the fact that it was less carbon intensive to ship Brazilian oranges around the world than it was to get German apples to a local market. He attacked the notion of localism through LCA’s and explained how a globally connected world can benefit society (Phillips 2015). In both cases LCA’s were used to show that when thinking about choice to help the earth one must look research more than just believe the popular thought.
During the semester we have read many different and opposing works. There has been a lot of information given to us that we as students must decipher. Finding connections in the ideas of writers can be helpful in figuring out what is the most important concepts we have learned so far. Importance concepts such as scale of action, different connections to nature, and how to live in a way better for the planet tend to show up in different texts across sections.
Bibliography
Phillips, Leigh. Austerity Ecology & the Collapse-Porn Addicts: A Defence of Growth, Progress, Industry and Stuff. Winchester, UK ; Washington, USA: Zero Books, 2015. https://books.google.com/books?id=6OSOCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT30&dq=austerity+ecology&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEw5Phhq7PAhVjVWMKHYHqBn8Q6AEIJTAB#v=onepage&q=austerity%20ecology&f=false.
Maniates, Michael F. “Individualization: Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World?” Global Environmental Politics 1, no. 3 (2001): 31–52.
Smil, Vaclav. Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley, 2014.
Naess, Arne. “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement.” Inquiry 16 (1973): 95–100.
Hulme, Mike. 2009. Why We Disagree about Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Steinberg, Paul F. Who Rules the Earth?: How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2015.