Common Ground

While Bill McKibben’s talk left much to be desired, Gary Paul Nabhan had some very pertinent points, one of which being the idea of a common ground. So often we think of climate change as a polarizing issue. There are categories, groups that are constructed. Those who believe it’s a thing, those who don’t. Those who want to take action, and those who sit idly by. Gary Paul Nabhan wants us to break these groups and try to find something common we all can agree on.

The political realm is often the battle ground for legislation that both helps and hurts the climate change movement. Nabhan stated that this portion of the history has the most partisan group on Capitol Hill. The politicians care more about voting with their party as opposed to the issues at hand. Politics aside, I find that this is the issue with a lot of things including climate change. Many people will choose one side in order to stay consistent with their religious beliefs or other varying circumstances. This is where the idea of common ground comes in.

Comic

The monarch butterfly is an example of this common ground. When Nabhan first presented this example and all the work that was being put towards it, I was a bit taken aback. I understood that the monarch is iconic, but does it require that much activism and effort to preserve? But as the talk continued, I realized it wasn’t about the butterfly. The butterfly, in my opinion, was simply a symbol for a greater cause. I don’t think anyone has a definitive reason to hate butterflies. No religious group,or political affiliation that I know of has a vendetta against butterflies. Like Nabhan stated, it is likely that the individuals at Monsanto have children or grandchildren who love Monarchs, and this could be an extremely important point of common ground.

Buttefly

While McKibben seemed to focus on protest and activism, Nabhan focused on commonalities. I think that if substantial ground is going to be made in the climate change effort, it needs to be under a common front. I felt a slight bit out of place at the McKibben/Nabhan talk as these people seemed to have more invested into the climate change effort and seemed to be a bit more radical about the movement. While I am all for helping the effort, I am not sure if protesting to the point where one is jailed is the right method to help the effort. I believe that climate change is going to affect each individual on a certain level and if we can find a common front to all unite under, it will be easier to help. Whether it be something as small as monarch butterflies, or something as large as massive weather events, something that can remove the polarization from the word climate change is what is truly needed.  We are all residents of this Earth, and because of that we should consider ourselves one people who need to do all we can so we can preserve it.

One thought on “Common Ground

  1. What a great cartoon — thanks for including it in your post! I agree with you about the importance about trying to move past polarization. I think the problem is not that people disagree; it’s that many people don’t even listen to each other. As you note, that’s what Nabhan’s talk did so well: it emphasized the importance of conversation, listening, and perspective taking. What do you think are some climate change communication strategies for getting past the polarization? I wonder whether creative works of cli-fi can help with that, or even something like a computer/video game (like the one you’re creating for the final project)?

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