This semester in ENVS 160 we read four main texts pertaining to the general ideas of ENVS. The works we read are as follows, Why We Disagree About Climate Change by Mike Hulme (2015), Austerity Ecology & The Collapse-Porn Addicts by Leigh Phillips (2015), Who Rules the Earth? by Paul Steinberg (2015). Of these texts some proved to be similar while others introduced stand alone ideas and information.
Institutional Action and Socialism
It was in Austerity Ecology & The Collapse-Porn Addicts by Leigh Phillips (2015) where socialism, specifically eco-socialism are really introduced and discussed in depth. The text highlights the inequities that exist within the capitalist system, especially when it comes to environmental policies to prevent further degradation to the non-human environments. The topic of socialism is discussed further in Paul Steinberg’s (2015) Who Rules the Earth? It is in this text that highlights the importance of thinking vertically rather than operating within the archaic saying of “think globally act locally”. When we shed this mentality, and approach the big environmental problems selectively and analytically oftentimes solutions are much easier to come to because of the systematic approach that focuses on the root of the problem rather than addressing stems of the issue.
Modernization
The modernization of America has solved as many problems as it has created. This proves true in advancements in agriculture, medicine, and technology. In Leigh Phillip’s book, Austerity Ecology & The Collapse-Porn Addicts (2015), Leigh highlights the importance of the acceptance of modernization. Take for example the case of genetically modified organisms; often times GMOs are seen as a counter to sustainable, organic farming. When I think of GMOs I picture CAFOs and endless fields of monocropped Monsanto corn and soy. However, things like GMOs provide large yields of food for relatively low production costs, which can feed more people than traditional agriculture, a net positive of GMOs.
In Love Your Monsters: Postenvironmentalism and the Anthropocene by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus (2011) authors argue that people should not be so hesitant to embrace modernity. Modernization doesn’t stop just because people aren’t ready to embrace it. I think the main points that both Phillips, Shellenberger and Nordhaus are trying to make is this, the Earth doesn’t stop spinning just because a person either doesn’t believe in the spinning or is uncomfortable with the idea of the Earth spinning. Just as argued in Love Your Monsters, “the solution to the unintended consequences of modernization is, and always has been, more modernity…” (Shellenberger and Nordhaus 2011). We are always progressing forward as a human race. The way things are today are different than yesterday and will be different than tomorrow. Just as the world spins, man moves forward, advancing their technologies and honing their skills.
Climate Deniers
In Why We Disagree About Climate Change by Mike Hulme (2015), Hulme offers many different reasons as to why people disagree about climate change. Ranging from educational, to cultural, and systematic differences climate change is so disagreed upon because of the many moving pieces. Hulme introduces the idea of wicked problems and clumsy solutions. Steinberg highlights the many different scales that environmental policy can operate on and how each of these offers different frameworks to approaching the problem therein resulting in different yet still viable small scale solutions to the larger “wicked problem” (Hulme 2015), (Shellenberger and Nordhaus 2011).
Works Cited:
Hulme, Mike. 2015. Why We Disagree About Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Phillips, Leigh. 2015. Austerity Ecology & the Collapse-Porn Addicts: A Defence of Growth, Progress, Industry and Stuff. Winchester, UK ; Washington, USA: Zero Books.
Shellenberger, Michael, and Ted Nordhaus, eds. 2011. Love Your Monsters: Postenvironmentalism and the Anthropocene. Breakthrough Institute.
Steinberg, Paul. 2015. Who Rules the Earth?: How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.