The End

Having taken a few other environmental science classes in high school and earlier in college I felt coming into this class that I had a decent grasp on the state of the world’s environmental problems. While certainly not the only issue, I think that we can agree that Global Climate Change is currently the most pressing of the environmental issues that we face. What I did not realize, however, is exactly how urgent this issue is. I was definitely in the boat with the people who thought that this is something that we have time to resolve. But thanks to IEP, I now realize that GCC really is an issue that needs to be addressed ASAP. It is not something that we can wait another decade to take care of.

The problem, though, is that I still am not sure on what is the best way to go about change. Is this something that can be done through technological innovation that allows for continued economic growth? Or do we need to radically change society’s thinking especially with regards to economic growth and consumerism? I feel like these were two of the main themes of this course, yet I don’t feel they were answered. Before this class, I was on the side of technological change to stop global climate change and stimulate economic growth. After taking this class, I realize it would probably be best to radically alter how we think about consumption and growth. The problem, however, is that I do not see this as a realistic option. My dilemma then becomes how to reconcile this and unfortunately I still do not know the answer. Because I do not like to make decisions, my proposal is to combine technological innovation with an attempt to curb consumption and still strive for economic growth, but tempered growth. I think the notion of growth is key to getting most people on board and we do not have the time and means to radically change society’s way of thinking. But I do think that we can change our consumer habits over time. As a result I guess the biggest thing that I have taken away from the course is that Liberals, Institutionalists, Bioenvironmentalists, nor Social Greens have a realistic answer to GCC on their own. But if we can combine the best aspects of each group’s thinking, we may just be able to save this planet.