When discussing environmental education, I do agree with Attfield that it is for future generations to decide whether or not they want to protect the environment and practice more sustainable processes, but that should not stop us from educating current and future generations. When I look back on what I learned in school when talking about the environment, there is not much that comes to mind. Yes we acknowledged Earth Day and one year my school sent me home with a little tree to plant, but other than that we did not actually talk about the current position our environment is in. We need to start introducing this topic in schools so that future generations can begin forming their opinions on this topic, but that starts with the government taking action. The government has such a big impact on our education system, so if even our own president ignores the facts about what is really happening, then we are screwed.
As soon as Trump was placed in the office, he signed Executive Order 13771 “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs.” From the beginning he has made known his view on environmental regulations, so it was no surprise when he withdrew us from the Paris Agreement and then continued to have the audacity to propose a 26% budget cut of the EPA which would in return cut around 50 different programs within the EPA. Yes, I am thankful that legislature has the final say, but this administration is incredibly greedy so of course we are going to see the impact of that (i.e. exploitation.) Trumps overall obsession with “winning” causes him to take unnecessary measures. Our withdrawal from the international climate agreements is just going to continue to divide us.
Lastly, I do believe that it is possible to be a good global citizen, even if our own nation stays playing games. However,I also believe that we must be aware of how much of an impact our government does have on this topic. Yes there are things we can all do to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly, but until we get out from under this capitalist society of ours, there is kind of a cap on things we can do. The environmental crisis is a global crisis and being a good global citizen means being aware of others and acknowledging that you, for the most part, have an impact on what happens to this tiny blue dot of ours.
Weekly Participation 8/31-9/4:
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Fortunately, as Attfield points out, it seems increasingly possible that the US withdrawal from climate cooperation may be reversed before it can take effect.
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