"Eaarth" Chapter 3

During class today, we learned about and discussed the racial disparities in many situations, including the proximity of homes to hazardous waste and garbage sites. While these facts are hard to take in and fully comprehend for those of us who are fortunate to not face them as a reality, this idea really helped shape my understanding of Chapter 3 of McKibben's work. He focused on American history, specifically our political and economic beginnings and how they shaped our society into the growth-hungry monster it currently is. His talk about the wonderful improvements that smaller farming and more local shopping would bring really had me swayed after the approximately fifty pages about this topic. However, during class discussions, I began thinking about this topic and what it would look like for the different societal classes, and suddenly it seemed a little less wonderful.

While I do not mean to be pessimistic, I simply compared my own family, in a suburban, middle class family with a nice house, nice yard, two children, and two parents--one of whom only works part time, with my aunt's family, who live in a more urban area, with a small house, little yard, one parent at home who works two jobs to support three children. McKibben's ideas would be easy for my own family to implement. My yard could sustain many of the food items my family requires, and my mom definitely has the time to maintain such a garden. What we cannot grow, we could surely afford to buy at a farmer's market, or from somewhere else that might be the slightest bit pricier than Meijer. However for my aunt, none of this is remotely possible. She does not have the time, energy, space, or financial ability to change her food source.

Yes, my aunt could quit one of her jobs, and begin farming more. As McKibben hinted, the idea of work needs to shift, doing more local, hands-on work rather than just office work for a large company. And yes, that could possibly help her family or at least maintain the current situation. However, in her mind, this change is a risk, and not one she is thinking about. She knows that what she is doing works, and why would she change that and jeopardize her children.

Again, not to be negative, nor to say I disagree with McKibben. I fully believe he is correct. Yet these changes must begin with the middle and upper class, but specifically the middle class. Upper class people are the ones who resist change the most, as they have the "most" to lose, financially. And the lower class, as previously stated, already faces enough risks. However, the middle class has the room to spare a little risk, and only a moderate amount of fear of them. While they too enjoy consistency, they have also experienced the most change in their lifetime, and are where the focus on McKibben's ideas need to begin. From there, the upper class will hopefully join in. Then, further scientific developments in local growing might make this technique more accessible and less risky to the lower class. And while it would be nice to affect all three groups at once, it is not in our mindset to happen.

McKibben stressed thinking small rather than large in this chapter, and that is exactly what we must do within the groups of people we target for pioneering this lifestyle change.

DAPL Protest

I had the opportunity to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline with a friend this weekend, but unfortunately we had to leave a little early due to another commitment.  However, as we were leaving, a couple in a car called us over to ask us a few questions. They were wondering what we were protesting, why, and then how they could help out. We were able to inform them not only of the civil injustices occurring against the Native people, as well as the potential harm to the rivers and especially drinking water that the pipeline could bring. My friend and I were glad we could make a difference to this couple, and told them to spread the world as well with their family, friends, and neighbors, to hopefully make an even larger impact. Just wanted to thank whoever mentioned this protest in class, as I would not have known it were happening otherwise!

"Eaarth" Chapter 2

The second chapter of this terrifying, yet informative novel shows readers the economic and political side of climate change, including the harm first world countries have done to those in third world countries. Beyond creating worse conditions for already poor countries, in which diseases and disasters thrive, recovering from these hardships costs a great deal of money. Now, rather than spending money on preventing future damage or technologies to assist in improving the world, these countries fall farther and farther behind. These conditions relate to the spiraling affect of destruction done by climate change, similar to the natural, ecological harm described in depth in Chapter One. McKibben detailed a few of the possible solutions to such problems, but just as the previous chapter, also told why they would not be possible: humans creating excuses for why these solutions would not work. In short, apparently the harm on the environment is not enough to motivate change, nor is the economy. 

Two elements of this chapter really caught my interest. First was the discussion of different numbers surrounding Lake Chad. In my reading, I circled these numbers many times; they were "90 percent," "30 percent," "80 percent," and "70 percent." Those are large percentages describing how much different bodies of water have already shrunk in a few decades. Many times with the discussion of climate change, the conversation revolves around bodies of water becoming larger, namely the oceans. However, water shrinkage is just as much of an issue. These are numbers from quite a few years ago so I can only imagine that they have increased. This issue also affects the Dead Sea, which a CNN article states is shrinking by 3.3 feet/year. That is quite a large amount, considering how worried people are over the ocean rising a few inches. 

The second issue that caught my attention was the talk of nuclear energy. I learned about this topic in eighth grade, and while we were informed of this issues and dangers surrounding it, young me thought that all non-fossil fuel energy was better than fossil fuels, or at least that's what I had taken away from my Earth Science class. Then, following this chapter and the discussions in class, I realized just how incorrect that sentiment was. As McKibben agrees, the dangers outweigh the benefits, and even Uranium is becoming more and more scarce. I feel this topic hits closer to home, literally, knowing that the Palisades is located just 44 miles from my own house. Many people in class did not seem to know the dangers of this plant specifically with the harm it causes to Lake Michigan, I went to investigate more to hopefully find a link to further explanation. I clicked on one entitled "8 reasons why closing Palisades nuclear plant matters," only to find out that 7/8 were about the economic harm and the eighth was simply that is was a win for environmentalists. Interesting to say the least. 

"Eaarth" Chapter 1

I am angry. As I stare at the wet, green grass on a Monday in the middle of January, with only small piles of snow to remind me of what winter here truly looks like, I think back to just a few years ago when the endless snow gave me three days off of school. No, I am not mad that I don't get as many snowdays, I am mad at how brutally obvious this shift in weather has been over my lifetime, and yet how society refuses to acknowledge it. The many, many obvious facts and statements from professors and research specialists across the world in Chapter One of McKibben's "Eaarth" make it quite clear just how much the world as we know it is entirely different from what we used to know. While I read countless examples of things I never expected to be so greatly harmed by the damage we have created, there were only two things I could think about: how I don't feel we are completely to blame for being in this situation and how Donald Trump and his administration are going to ruin this planet.

Many may disagree on whether or not to blame the human race for killing our beautiful home, and while it is true that if we weren't around, this situation would not be such an imminent threat. However, the true cause of this destruction is the development of technology and facilitation of different processes, all of which had the sole intent of improving lives--not ruining them. Combustable gas has completely altered the production industry and nearly every aspect of human life. In fact, I could not be writing this blog right now if it weren't for the plastic in my computer processor, or many other products. Our medicine and medical procedures would be horrendous, and life spans would be much shorter. You see, we did not know what we were getting our selves into when we got hooked on oil. It has become almost like a drug addiction, at first it seems okay and assists with some problems, but by the time you realize just how dangerous it is to your health, it's too late. As McKibben explained, we truly did not recognize the problems we had formed until about thirty years ago, and even then we thought they were far off. We only understood the gravity and timeframe of it all about ten years ago. So no, I do not put blame on us for causing climate change, but do not get me wrong. I am livid that over the past thirty years, and especially the past ten years, almost nothing has been accomplished to make up for what we have done.

What truly gets me angry is knowing that if the Senate validates Trump's cabinet positions, the environment has no hope. America already creates huge issues, and even during Obama's eight years, as the book explained, not a lot could be accomplished. Now if you take four years of a president and presidential cabinet of people who do not believe in climate change, or better yet feel it is a Chinese conspiracy to drain our economy, it is truly hopeless. I do not understand how they somehow just can't see the blatant facts laid out in a book like this, or the lack of snow in cold climates in January. How can our nation's leader ignore this, and further ruin our future? He can bicker about the American economy and world markets and education systems and all that he desires, but have fun trying to do so in a few years when our planet is nearly uninhabitable thanks to his ignorance and willingness to fight a real, provable issue.

"The Audit"

A seemingly normal, American family faces what they feel is an absolute nightmare in an alternate reality short story entitled "The Audit." This family of four enjoys their suburban lifestyle, characterized in a very stereotypically American manner with a nice, six-bedroom house, SUV, perfectly trimmed yard, and many other small luxuries--none of which seem out of the ordinary to the readers. Yet all these comforts come at a price, as they have been issued an audit, although it is not a tax audit. Instead, this audit assess the climate footprint of the individuals and compares it to the standard amount that they determine is acceptable. To their shock, the family discovered they were 3.4 times the acceptable amount and were required to reduce this amount within two years. In a typical American fashion, rather than make the sacrifices and expend the effort required to fix this issue, the family finds a way to become exempt from the audit instead. They do so by finding someone with a footprint significantly under the allowed amount to endorse them. The father, Bill, visits this sponsor, named Goodwin, and realizes the beauty of a much simpler lifestyle. As he returns to his home after receiving the signature, he pictures emptying his house and transforming his life, and makes clear to readers the internal change he has experienced, giving the story a very hopeful ending. 

The comedic value of this piece, both in a satirical manner and in a way that hits very close to home that it almost isn't funny, keeps the negativity at a minimum. This family lives an enjoyable life with nothing unusual for most middle-class Americans, and yet they receive a rating of 3.4 times the limit. That's no small value, and while it is an arbitrary number in a fictional piece, it exemplifies the dangers of what we consider normal and our obliviousness to the harsh reality we are in. We have done so much damage to our Earth already that we cannot continue to be normal, we cannot be complacent with our dying planet. Goodwin exists in this tale to show that extreme measures are needed in order to protect and preserve the world, and that even the extreme is barely enough. Also shown by Goodwin is that a more environmentally conservative life does not mean giving up all comforts, it means finding others. We are able to witness that through Bill's transformation. While I enjoyed watching Bill and his family struggle through the idea of having to make sacrifices, and appreciated the fact that Bill's children had to inform him of the situation, as younger generations tend to be more aware of these issues, I would have preferred the piece end with Bill returning to his regular life and comfortable bed. A single night in the mountains would not have changed the mindset of any normal American, at least not that radically, and the satirical nature of the piece would have a conclusion that wrapped the piece of nicely, bringing it back to the beginning and remaining more accurate to real life. It also would have left a larger impact on the audience, leaving them to ponder just how much typical Americans need to see in order to understand the gravity of the situation and make the necessary changes to protect our home. 

About Me

Hi, my name is Danielle and I am a senior at Portage Northern High School and the Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center (KAMSC), and plan to attend the University of Michigan beginning in the fall to major in Biology or Computer Science and Pre-Med, and minor in Spanish. With the hopes of one day becoming a doctor, I dream to work with the program Doctors without Borders to utilize my fascination of the body and medicine, as well as my desire to help others. I am also very interested in the arts, specifically music, dance, and painting. Another passion of mine is traveling to experience other cultures and learn as much as I can.

I will utilize this blog to share my thoughts and ideas about the environment, the issues we currently face, and what I, personally, and the society as a whole can do to prevent any further issues.