Change the Values That Have Destroyed the Environment
The planet is in peril. Society’s mass production and consumption have created a multitude of environmental crises: global warming, mass species extinction, ecosystem failure. The list goes on. The response to this societal crisis — specifically, the degradation of the natural environment — has been timid. Where global warming has not been met without outright denial, the solutions have been mixed. Many seem to think that a carbon tax will be a cure-all, when in reality we’ll need something much more ambitious (perhaps the Green New Deal). …
The past few months have helped reveal flaws in our society and economy. During times of prosperity, such as the past decade, it is easy to lose sight of the less fortunate, and even of those vital to the day-to-day functioning of our economy. However, a few months of economic shutdown, with only essential businesses remaining operable, have shown that society’s essential workers are also often its least acknowledged, valued, and well-paid.
We as a society have come to place the utmost value upon free-markets and deregulation (in a word, neoliberalism), resulting in unintended consequences — the most dire of which has been environmental degradation. Our economy has come to consume natural resources at an increasingly unsustainable rate (we overshot the earth’s biocapacity in the ‘70s), and relies predominantly on polluting, non-renewable fossil fuels to meet its energy demands. The result has been biodiversity loss — we may be in the sixth mass extinction, with species going extinct at 100 to 1000 times the background rate — and rapid global warming. …
Today is an odd day, for today is the day America elects a new president. It is particularly odd from the perspective of a dual citizen, both having a say in America while simultaneously viewing America from the outside. Born, raised, and living in Canada, I realize that I’m not the most likely of Americans.
I have only been to America three times in my life — spending less than four months of my life in the country. However, I can trace my family history in America back to 1635, when my British ancestors sailed from Romsey to settle in Newbury, Massachusetts. The descendants of my British ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, and for the Union in the Civil War. After the Union defeated the Confederacy, France gifted the Statue of Liberty to America in celebration of slavery’s abolition. When my Italian ancestors emigrated to New York City, from Puglia and Sicilia, at the turn of the last century, the Statue of Liberty was there to welcome them. My grandpa John, born in Brooklyn, was a civil servant for most of his life, serving as a lieutenant in the FDNY. He and my Pop both served in the Navy on the USS Independence. My great uncle Saverio worked on Project Apollo. Ancestors on both sides of my family served America in the Second World War. …
Scientists have warned of global warming since the ’80s, yet the crisis is as dire as ever. Politicians have stalled climate solutions for decades. Year after year, politicians decided it was too much trouble to end global warming. Apparently, it cost too much to leave a healthy environment for future generations.
Being born in 2001, nature has been at risk my entire life. Politicians could have done something. They could have phased out fossil fuels, and championed conservation. Instead, politicians did nothing. British Columbians have had an excellent opportunity to protect nature, yet all we have to show for it is a lousy carbon tax. (Despite the tax, BC’s emissions are as high as they have ever been.) Damaging the environment has jeopardized society — a great injustice. …
