Climate matters...so what now?

In the readings for Thursday’s class I was not only intrigued by the insight, but also pleasantly surprised at the refreshing take on Climate Change. To be honest I didn’t know much about Cop21 even though I’ve studied environmental issues for years now. What stood out to me the most in the readings was the way Bill McKibben approached his choice in writing voice. Over the years we usually see articles that either take both sides and settle on a neutral position rather than swaying one way or another. Furthermore in Bill’s article, he spoke about the need for change now, even before the Paris conference. The fact of the matter is that one meeting is still one meeting. Change and large group movements that actually create change take time to develop. In order to do that, a global movement of common people must take action.

            Another point was brought up actually during class pertaining to an idea brought up in McKibben’s article. He writes, “But this fight, as it took me too long to figure out, was never going to be settled on the grounds of justice or reason. We won the argument, but that didn’t matter: like most fights it was, and is, about power…their power lies in money and the political favour it can buy; our power lies in movement-building, and the political fear it can instill” (McKibben 7). Power is essential in keeping a strong voice of reason. The problem is how do we pull away from consumer systems while maintaining a powerful enough voice to make change? I like to think of it as trying to win a game without playing it. Seems impossible at first, but McKibben provides us with a suggestion. In fact, I mentioned it earlier in this post when speaking on a global movement. Movements like this have worked in the past multiple times, so I believe it could work with climate change, too.