After taking AP Environmental Science in high school and being apart of the Environmental Academy there, I was confident in my understanding and skills regarding the environment, however as this semester comes to a close, I understand now how narrow and classic minded my environmental views were. This class more than anything has changed the lenses with which I view the environment and environmental issues through. It has shown me that solutions can be messy but also that humans are innovative creatures constantly learning to adapt to a shifting world. So here I will discuss a few of the major takeaways I have from ENVS 160.
Reading Mike Hulme’s, Why We Disagree About Climate Change, has opened my eyes to the reasons why we really do disagree on environmental issues. Prior to reading this book, and as naive as this may be, I regarded people who didn’t believe in climate change to be uneducated, ill informed, or frankly unintelligent. However after reading this book, I can understand just how one dimensional my views had been, and have come to understand just how multi faceted this matter really is. We disagree about climate change and other environmental issues for many reasons, some of which include our religious beliefs, how we value the ‘natural world,’ our own assessments of risk, how much we value future generations, where and how we grew up, and how much we rely on or trust ‘science’ (Hulme 2009). It is a combination of many factors that make up how we value and assess different things, including climate change, and in turn, how we all act and believe according to our own truths. Understanding this has opened my views and allowed me to engage in meaningful and effective discourse with people whose own views oppose my own.
In a previous post I discussed the value Paul Steinberg emphasizes in his book, Who Rules the Earth, on local change that results in institutional action. I have never before thought of action as connected this way, but can see now how effective this type of change can be. Steinberg also deconstructs many of the social rules that exist today that govern our lives both consciously, and more often than that, unconsciously (Steinberg 2015). By doing so he has revealed to me how important rules are and how much they affect our lives day to day and even generation to generation. Steinberg has helped identify the ways in which meaningful action can be implemented by anyone committed to doing so at a greater level than “just recycling.” Steinberg has helped identify the tools I need in order to make change on a greater scale, and he has made it a tangible and achievable goal by writing the success stories of many institutional changes that have started from local action. This makes me hopeful and optimistic that I too can make a change on this greater scale.
Another major takeaway from ENVS 160 is the difference between classic and contemporary environmental thought. Like I said earlier, I now realize how classic my environmental mindset had been upon entering this class, and it was a fascinating journey debunking and critiquing many of my original views and solutions regarding the environment. While solutions, information, and understanding can be pulled from both, contemporary environmental thought has in many ways revolutionized how I view environmental problems and solutions today. I understand on a deeper level how multi dimensional solutions and problems are, and how they differ depending on the lense one uses to view them. Through multiple readings that we have done in this course, my eyes have been opened to opportunities I would not have considered prior to this class.
ENVS 160 has changed the way I view many of today’s issues and views regarding the environment. I have learned how to situate myself in order to conduct effective discourse with those I may not agree with, I have accepted some solutions as “clumsy,” and understood what it takes to implement meaningful change on a greater scale (Hulme 2009). I know that these skills will be taken outside of ENVS 160 as I continue down the ENVS major, but more importantly, out into the world where I hope to make an impact for meaningful change.
Citations
Hulme, Mike. 2009. Why We Disagree about Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity. Cambridge University Press.
Steinberg, Paul F. 2015. Who Rules the Earth?: How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.