Lawrence.com

Posted by Vince Meserko July 14, 2008 at 11:45 a.m.

Defeating defeatism

Environmentalists are angry again which shouldn't surprise anyone. They seem to be in a perpetual state of unease and distress and the recent lackluster action at the recent G-8 Summit did little to quell the anxiety. The group of 8, (the U.S., Japan, Germany, Russia, Britain, France, Canada, and Italy) reached an agreement a few weeks ago that proposed a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. Environmental groups are rightly upset. [CNN.com quoted Oxfam International's Antonio Hill][1] saying that "at this rate, by 2050 the world will be cooked and the G-8 leaders will be long forgotten." Leaders of the WWF's Global Climate Initiative and the AVAAZ took equally harsh stances, arguing the group of 8 leaders failed to use their international political clout to make a truly forceful slash in global carbon emissions. Yeah, the agreement certainly does seem inadequate and the outrage seems justified, but the criticism is ultimately a distraction. The word "responsibility" is the quoted buzzword of choice for environmental mouthpieces and is often used to illuminate a failure in governmental leadership, but in actuality, environmentalists have got to start looking at what makes their own activism responsible, worthwhile and effective. Reading these quotes makes it sounds like something truly catastrophic has happened. Centralized power has failed us again! Why is this shocking? It concerns me how often the headlines surrounding global climate disruption almost always involve carbon emissions and getting somebody in authority to make it stop. Environmental groups have got to stop looking to the international political elite to solve this thing and start creating, sharing and mobilizing within their own communities. Otherwise, these groups seem to be offering little more than an admission of weakness. It's as if they are suggesting that climate activism only has merit if it has passed through the channels of the powerful and becomes realized only after the approval of the elite. Relying on the leaders at the G-8 summit to provide vigilant climate change action will only have a detrimental effect on environmental movements and will produce a culture of pessimism and defeatism that will only complicate working towards positive change. Further, it will most certainly reinforce the stereotype of the whiny environmentalist, which is sure to lead to even more hostile partisan sparring. For this reason, I'm much more excited by action taken locally that bypasses the elite, but still creates meaningful value within communities. The efforts of Majora Carter offer a wonderful template of the sort of community-based environmental activism to which I'm most interested. Her work with the organization Sustainable South Bronx ([ssbx.org][2]) "addresses land-use, energy, transportation, water & waste policy, and education to advance the environmental and economic rebirth of the South Bronx" according to the group's mission statement. It might be a local project but is holistic in its vision. Not only does the community support agricultural development, but they also offer training in "green collar" jobs to the most economically disadvantaged to ensure the rebirth of the South Bronx isn't purely aesthetic. Mainstream environmental groups should pay attention to Carter's model and quit distracting themselves with the continuous failure of the powerful. [1]: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/08/g8.climate.change/index.html [2]: http://www.ssbx.org/