• Replies 3 replies
  • Subscribers 9 subscribers
  • Views 836 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Related

Changing our Perspective on Climate

Angela Lee

I finished Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer last month and she really inspired me to think differently about the way we approach environmentalism:

“When my students learn about the latest environmental threat, they are quick to spread the word.  They say, “If people only knew that snow leopards are going extinct, if people only knew that rivers are dying, if people only knew…” Then they would what? Stop? I honor their faith in people, but so far, the if-then formula isn’t working. People do know the consequences of our collective damage. They do know the wages of an extractive economy, but they don’t stop. They get very sad, they get very quiet, so quiet that protection of the environment that enables them to eat, to breathe and imagine a future for their children doesn’t even make it on a list of their top ten concerns.”

So I wonder have we approached this all wrong?  How can we help our students change their perspectives about caring for the natural world around them and their relationship with the environment?  Do we need to be doing something different about how we look at climate change and the protection of our environment? 

  

  •  I really enjoyed Braiding Sweetgrass when I read it and find many of her messages relevant to not just climate change, but so many of the current issues we face. The input level can honestly be numbing when it seems like there's nothing you can do that would actually make a difference.

    It reminds me of this recent Stanford study that looks at what it takes to spur collective action on climate change. Not a surprise, but it doesn't come by inducing guilt. Instead, "The strongest response came when messages noted how collective action has delivered tangible change and highlighted the social and emotional benefits of participating." Kimmerer is on to the same thing--her students want to take action, to spread the word.

    There are multiple resources in the Climate course like the Civic Action Graphic Biographies and the Exploring the Levers of Power activity that show examples of climate action. But I also wonder what's happening in your classrooms. Has anyone found success inspiring student action and optimism? 

  • I think this can be hard for students as there is really not many short-term effects. It is more like a cavity in your mouth.  Once you see it, it is too late.  I have argued this topic with my brother who works in finance.  He is way more interested in the short-term goal of making money.  Environmental factors are not even on his radar.

  • I think this may be an issue of hope. I worry my students don't have much hope for the future. They see a wobbly economy, unaffordable college, unaffordable housing prospects, skyrocketing expenses, stressed out grownups trying to make ends meet and a corporate class that is destroying the planet to pile more billions on top of their other billions. I think they care very much but if I were an adolescent right now, I'd feel overwhelmed.

    I try to emphasize that it isn't too late. I also emphasize that my students did not cause this problem. Corporate greed bears most of the responsibility for climate change and if we are going to do something about it, we need to rein that sector in. Or, people need to start making billions from improving the environment, rather than wrecking it.

    The lessons in the Climate Project that focus on hope and change are helpful here. A lesson on subsidies for oil and gas extraction that aren't extended to renewable energy development would be helpful too. I also tell them that even if they can't vote yet, they are still the constituents of their representatives and writing letters makes a difference. And when they are old enough, I encourage them to vote. But they feel very disempowered, which again, I understand. I just hope that my hope for them gives them some hope.