1. Why is the Sierra Club pursuing "triage" on the Northern Cheyenne and Crow Reservations in Montana?
2. What did Red Cloud say is part of Natives' way of life?
3. What are the roots of Denmark's and Germany's commitment to renewables?
4. What are participants in the divestment movement asking colleges and municipalities to do, in addition to divesting?
5. What's the greenest town in America?
6. How does the case for climate debt differ from that for reparations in general?
DQ
- "We need common agreement that having been wronged does not grant a country the right to repeat the same crime on an even grander scale." How would you make that case, if you were invited to address a climate summit of developing nations? 417
- Do we all have a "right to breathe clean air" that should override all other considerations (including a tribe's election of a former coal miner as its president)? 390
- Can we all benefit from getting "a few solar panels over on grandma's house"? How can we make that happen? 396
DONALD DRUMPF AND THE CLIMATE-CHANGE COUNTDOWN
By Elizabeth Kolbert
...Which brings us, as so many things do these days, to the Presidential election. Donald Drumpf, who has very publicly called climate change a “hoax” (despite very publicly denying having done so, in Monday’s debate), has said that he will “rescind” the Clean Power Plan. Hillary Clinton, in contrast, has said that she will carry it out. Whoever is elected will, it seems, have the chance to nominate the deciding Justice to the Supreme Court. This could be seen as yet another reason to be terrified of a Drumpf victory. Or it could be seen as the reason to be terrified of a Drumpf victory. If the next four years are spent rolling back whatever progress has been made on emissions, then almost certainly the temperature targets that world leaders set last year in Paris will be breached. In fact, even if the next four years are spent making more progress, it’s likely that the targets will be breached. In the case of climate change, to borrow from Dr. King once again, tomorrow really is today.
I believe that it is a basic human right to have access to clean air as well as other resources such as food and water as well as an environment that does not hinder their health. With that being the case, such matters should definitely be prioritized over monetary gain or governmental indifference.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is a basic human right to have access to clean air as well as other resources such as food and water as well as an environment that does not hinder their health. With that being the case, such matters should definitely be prioritized over monetary gain or governmental indifference.
ReplyDeleteCan we all benefit from getting "a few solar panels over on grandma's house"? How can we make that happen? 396
ReplyDeleteI would say yes we can all benefit from it because if you look at it collectively, every solar panel installed is that much less dirty energy needed that in turn means there is that much more air that will not be polluted, warmed, etc. So even if its one panel its still better than having none at all.
Do we all have a "right to breathe clean air" that should override all other considerations (including a tribe's election of a former coal miner as its president)? 390
ReplyDeleteI think it is a basic human right for the mere fact that clean air is a basic human need. Where we get caught up is in having high profits and monetary gain and deciding that dirty air is ok as long as we are making money. What needs to happen is a movement of individuals declaring that human health as a whole is more important than a small percentage of the people getting wealthy off of creating dirty air. I would agree that it should override anything else and at the very least be at the forefront because clean air is needed for survival and many other things are not. So we have to get our priorities in check and decide what we want more, a healthy environment that can lead to longer life, or to slowly poison ourselves and die younger because of greed.