I think the most interesting thing that I enjoyed discussing throughout this term was the idea that in order to best care for the environment, we must make a connection with it and appreciate everything that nature provides for us. A lot of what I’ve learned about climate change in the past has been political in terms of how climate change is perceived by politicians and different political parties. The discourse over how to best address it is tiring and oftentimes has more to do with the people in power rather than oneself. I liked looking at the environment and how we should treat it from the lens of our connection with it rather than from the lens of having to save it from climate change. I wasn’t raised in an extremely environmentally conscious way, but now I want to focus on this idea more and incorporate it more into my normal life. 

One of my favorite things we read in this class was an excerpt from Braiding Sweetgrass, comparing a “summer day on the banks of the Mohawk River,” to “a spring morning four hundred years later.” With two very similarly structured paragraphs, the author compares two shared experiences of working in the soil, basking in the sunshine and breeze on the river. As “the breeze off the water sets the grasses waving and carries the fragrance of sweetgrass that rises from her footsteps,” four hundred years later in the same place, “the sunshine pours down around us, warming the grass and releasing its scent.” The idea of history being involved in our relationship to nature inspires me to create my own relationship with the environment. 

I believe that one of the most important ideas we covered throughout this term was the impact that capitalism and the media have on our environment and climate change. One of the questions of discussion that I felt came up a lot during class was, “Can we balance the fight against climate change with economic growth?” I believe this question should be one on every single person’s mind as we advance into the future. Because if the answer to this is no and we don’t address this answer, it will eventually lead to all of our demise. 

In one of the articles I read for my annotated bibliography, the author presented these statistics in which Americans had been polled to rank what topics they believe should be a “top priority.” The top three priorities, with large leads, were strengthening nation’s economy, improving job situation, and reducing budget deficit. Protecting environment landed way down the list at number 11, with dealing with global warming last at number 18. It’s so clear that our priorities and mindsets need to be changed if we’re ever going to hope to solve climate change.

In my opinion, while art and literature will always be extremely present in every important topic, they will not play a role in shaping our future in relation to climate change. I feel as though at this point there is so much art and literature in existence speaking about climate change. About its impacts, its causes, and how desperately we need to be fixing it. Yet we have barely made any progress. I believe that in terms of our future in relation to climate change, the only things that are necessary are cold, hard science and a change in government policies. 

I really enjoyed this class and all of the topics we discussed throughout the term. I feel as though I will take some of the works we went over with me as I continue with my education as climate change is an interesting focus to me.