Sustainability Manifesto
Can my generation save the world?
Hey guys, I could use some help.
Or will we destroy it?
It's more important now than ever before that we do our part to stop climate change.
But many of the people in power, especially in the United States, deny that humanity's impact on the world has been negative, with lasting and likely irreversible damage being done to this planet that we call home. In the 2018 National Climate Assessment, the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USCGRP) stated that
It is becoming more and more a reality that if we do not act now, life as we know it will begin to change. According to the same report, it will be those already vulnerable -- those of low-income or other marginalized communities -- will be the first and most impacted by the rising threats of climate change, such as rising sea levels, changing weather patterns, and increased chance of natural disasters. But the people in power -- the richest and most well-connected among us -- will be ok for now, making their motivation low to stop the changes currently happening, because they have money, power, resources available to them.
In the effort to equalize society and remove barriers to social movement, we have to understand and take into account the extra strike against these communities get from climate change when it comes to fighting for rights and access.
"Climate change creates new risks and exacerbates existing vulnerabilities in communities across the United States, presenting growing challenges to human health and safety, quality of life, and the rate of economic growth."
"Without substantial and sustained global mitigation and regional adaptation efforts, climate change is expected to cause growing losses to American infrastructure and property and impede the rate of economic growth over this century."
"Climate change affects the natural, built, and social systems we rely on individually and through their connections to one another. These interconnected systems are increasingly vulnerable to cascading impacts that are often difficult to predict, threatening essential services within and beyond the Nation’s borders."
"The quality and quantity of water available for use by people and ecosystems across the country are being affected by climate change, increasing risks and costs to agriculture, energy production, industry, recreation, and the environment."
"Climate change increasingly threatens Indigenous communities’ livelihoods, economies, health, and cultural identities by disrupting interconnected social, physical, and ecological systems."
"Ecosystems and the benefits they provide to society are being altered by climate change, and these impacts are projected to continue. Without substantial and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions, transformative impacts on some ecosystems will occur; some coral reef and sea ice ecosystems are already experiencing such transformational changes."
"Rising temperatures, extreme heat, drought, wildfire on rangelands, and heavy downpours are expected to increasingly disrupt agricultural productivity in the United States. Expected increases in challenges to livestock health, declines in crop yields and quality, and changes in extreme events in the United States and abroad threaten rural livelihoods, sustainable food security, and price stability."
"Our Nation’s aging and deteriorating infrastructure is further stressed by increases in heavy precipitation events, coastal flooding, heat, wildfires, and other extreme events, as well as changes to average precipitation and temperature. Without adaptation, climate change will continue to degrade infrastructure performance over the rest of the century, with the potential for cascading impacts that threaten our economy, national security, essential services, and health and well-being."
"Outdoor recreation, tourist economies, and quality of life are reliant on benefits provided by our natural environment that will be degraded by the impacts of climate change in many ways."
Other important takeaways from the report:
The Movement
The report was published on Black Friday 2018, likely limiting its reach because of the date chosen: who watches the news during the biggest consumerist day of the entire year? Very few people, that's who.
The Trump Administration has done its best to silence climate science since 2016, and this was just another attempt to do just that. The very act of releasing it on that day drew attention, though, and the 1,000+ page document likely gathered more media attention than it might have had it been published on a different day.
The report was also published mere weeks after Election Day, and Democrat Senator- and Representative-elects around the country have pledged to support measures to try to stop, reverse, or mitigate climate change. One of the most vocal of these voices is Representative-elect from Brooklyn, NY, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ocasio-Cortez is fast becoming known for her biting Twitter replies and her relevant Instagram stories, where she often cooks or bakes while talking about policy, the media, and her experiences as the youngest Representative ever elected to the House. One of the bills she is backing is the Green New Deal, which would attempt to cut US carbon emissions fast enough to "meet the Paris Agreement's most ambitious climate goal: preventing the world from warming no more than 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100." Meeting this goal could prevent some of the major threats of climate change.
But that requires cutting emissions in half by 2030. The Green New Deal is innovative and demanding, and would restructure the entire US economy and our foundations as a country. It would bolster renewable energy and start moving our economy and infrastructure away from coal and fossil-fuel oriented sources. It would also provide an incentive for the people: a job in one of these new or restructuring fields for anyone who wants one, which would not just change the markets we depend on but add to the workforce a new generation of workers trained in how to stop world destruction. And that's pretty cool.
My Beliefs
I think that we -- as individuals and members of our respective communities, countries, and the world who will have to deal first-hand with the effects of climate change -- need to evaluate what we find important. Those who wish to perpetuate the status quo will forever cling to their coal and oil fortunes, but we do not have that luxury. If the planet goes down, we will go down with it. The rich and powerful might have bunkers or private spaceships (or Mars, if Elon Musk figures out how) at their disposal to shield themselves from the dangers of climate change, but we do not. If we want the planet to be protected for the rest of our lifetimes and for future generations, the time to act is now. If we wait too much longer, it will be impossible to hold off the changes that are already happening and the landslide that will soon be unleashed.
I want a world where everyone has enough food, water, shelter, safety & healthcare, work, and equal rights.
I want a world free of dangerous infections diseases, where everyone has access to education and the freedom to choose what, where, how, and with who they spend their lives.
And dealing with climate change might not get us a world with all of these things, but I think that by proactively dealing with climate change and compassionately helping those in communities most affected, we can get there, one vote at a time.
My Priorities
