Hope for the Future

The meeting our class attended on Friday was really quite eye opening. I actually did not know that Bill McKibben had been arrested several times during his climate activism, and it was very interesting hearing his thoughts and perspectives on the issue in person. He brought up a lot of points that have me worried about the future in mitigating climate change, and the obstacles that those who wish to mitigate climate change face. Money and lobbying play a huge role in the U.S. political system, and a lot of policy directives that Congress enacts come from corporate and lobbying interests. He brought up specific pair of brothers that seem to be playing a bigger and bigger role in our legislative process. The Koch brothers, who made their fortune and have amassed a huge amount of wealth in the fossil fuel industry, have been active in the U.S. political lobbying system for a long time, but with the recent supreme court decisions like Citizens United vs. FEC and McCutcheon vs FEC, the flow of money in the form of campaign contributions and political donations has skyrocketed. The Koch brothers have poured massive amounts of money in to organizations and politicians who oppose or deny climate change as well as climate scientists in general, and have pledged to use nearly a billion dollars in campaign contributions in the next election cycle.

With the new Republican congress, things seem to be headed in an even worse direction in climate progress. The Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, James Inhofe, who is a Republican from Oklahoma, recently made a speech in congress denying climate change by using a snowball as his personal proof that climate change couldn’t be happening because it was cold and snowy in the District of Columbia. He also used the bible to prove that climate change could not possibly be man made, as he considered it arrogant that man could change what God had already created. He went on to say that, as long as God was active, there would always be cold seasons and hot seasons. The reason this frightens me so much is the fact that Senator Inhofe has control of the committee that sets resolutions pertaining to the environment, which means that nothing will be done in the Senate to produce legislation that could curb the effects of climate change, or try to set limits on carbon emissions.

It almost seems like we might be doomed, yet the speech made by Gary Paul Nabhan gave me a sense of hope for the future, as well as seeing the huge amount of concerned citizens who attended the climate meeting as well. If we all work together as a community, in forms of activism and protests, as well as doing what we can to mitigate climate change, I believe we can make a difference in the future, and pursue a change of policy in our own government so that we as a society can make real progress towards saving the planet.

One thought on “Hope for the Future

  1. Thanks for sharing these reflections. I too am also frightened not just by the physical impacts of climate change but by our political system (and specifically by politicians like Senator Inhofe). I think it would be easy to use this as a reason not to get involved in politics and to just assume that our government can’t (and won’t do anything), but, as you suggest, Gary Paul Nabhan’s speech suggested otherwise. There is room for compromise and working together. And even though there is a vocal minority (of which Senator Inhofe is a part) trying to deny the reality of climate change so as to protect the profits of fossil fuel companies, there are MANY more people who are wise, honorable, honest, and wanting to work together.

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