Coming into ENVS 160, I expected to learn about the problems facing the environment and then explore various solutions to either change or reverse the problems. Having learned about climate change and the precarious state of the earth, I mistakenly thought that there would be clear steps to solve the various environmental problems facing our modern world. But after reading our first text Why We Disagree About Climate Change by Mike Hulme (2009), I realized this way of thinking was very wrong. I learned that although there may not be clear steps that I can take to combat climate change and other problems, I learned that there are others things I can do. This class has greatly evolved how I view the environment and its many problems as I now understand the importance of different perspectives when faced with challenges like climate change. Here are some of my perspectives that I took away from the class.
One of the biggest things I took away from this class was from Why We Disagree About Climate Change by Mike Hulme (2009). Hulme’s main point, as the title suggests, is confronting people’s different perspectives and why we can’t come up with a single and effective solution to climate change. Some of the things that really stuck with me are that people will disagree about climate change because it’s communicated in problematic ways, it’s mixed up in tricky governance questions and because people’s experiences and moral beliefs will affect how they view climate change (Hulme 2009). I had never really thought that these kinds of things would impact the argument on climate change but now that I understand the depth of the argument, it has allowed me to be more understanding of other people’s views. I used to disregard people’s views if they thought climate change was a myth, just thinking that they were uneducated, but now I will be more open minded and understanding to other’s opinions and views on controversial topics because there are many things influencing their beliefs.
This class also changed my outlook on how I view the future of this planet. Before, I had a very negative view that can be labeled as an apocalyptic view. I was not optimistic about the earth’s future and thought that there was little that we could do to reverse the effects of climate change. I learned in Why We Disagree About Climate Change (2009) and in the beginning of Who Rules the Earth? by Paul Steinberg (2015) that my individual actions would not do anything to make a lasting change against climate change and other issues. This added to my negative view on the future of the earth because I thought if there wasn’t anything I could do as an individual then how is anybody supposed to make any change. But I learned soon enough in Who Rules the Earth? (2015) that I could still take individual action and have it make some sort of change if that action was aimed at helping institutions implement change. Steinberg included many examples of this kind of change throughout the book and it changes my outlook. Realizing that I can still have a positive effect on the environment and that many people are proving that individuals can implement change at an institutional level changed my perspective from a very negative view to one that is more hopeful and positive. I’m hoping that I can take this more positive outlook and research ways that I can create change in my community through institutions.
Although I took away concrete ideas that changed my perspective, there are still many other ideas that are brought up in this class that I feel I have yet to fully grasp. Many of the ideas and concepts are not as concrete and for me are sometimes hard to connect to each other but this just leads me to explore these perspectives even further. All of these perspectives that I have grasped and have not fully grasped show me that the problems affecting our earth have no simple answer but this excites me to learn more.
Works Cited
- Hulme, Mike. 2009. Why We Disagree about Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity. Cambridge U.K.: 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.