We must progress to the point of the passage of a comprehensive piece of public policy designed to address the problem of climate change in a few short years, and this task is sufficiently analogous to the civil rights movement’s efforts to pass the Civil Rights Act that we may learn from exploring connections between our movement and the civil rights movement and other past social movements. It would be foolish to assume that the social movements of the past have no lessons to offer us, just as it would be foolish to assume that our movements will follow the exact same course.

As I said before, Arthur does a good job of articulating the nuance and difference between a limiting comparison of social movements as “the same” and an empowering, motivation and enlightening exploration of the connections between current and past movements.

Thanks to Willie and Arthur for a great discussion here! Self-awareness is truly key. May we learn from the past as we become more self-aware of our current position, strength and task as a social movement!

ben i don’t really understand. and what’s this about east coast west coast? i’m from the south-frickin-east!

w

You make a compelling point that there are still many other issues more immediately pressing for many folks around the world. As you say, your friends in the coal fields have more pressing environmental and personal health threats to address, and we should not ignore or begrudge them those concerns. It’s important not to forget these struggles and to aid our friends and fellow human beings whenever possible.

However, the scale and scope of global climate change is such that I think it is appropriate to call it “the greatest issue of our generation.” While many people still face more pressing day-to-day struggles, these challenges do not have the global nature that makes climate change an animal of a different character.

Climate change is an emblematic problem of a global nature: it is a clear symptom of a way of life that has ignored the scale of humanity’s cumulative effects on the global environment, on it’s delicate systems, and on future generations. It is not only a pressing threat that may, as you say it, “pretty much mean the end of the world as we know it if it’s not fixed,” but also an opportunity for our generation to stride forward into a sustainable future.

The kind of changes in thinking and lifestyle that will be necessary to address and mitigate the threat of climate change are also an opportunity to not only address this issue, but also to address many other environmental and justice issues that plague our planet. Many issues, including those that may be more pressing for local communities, like the pollution and health effects of coal mining, are the result of a flawed mindset that human beings can mine resources from the planet, process them, and dump their waste back into the environment – and do so on an exponentially increasing scale – without having serious detrimental effects both locally and globally to the planet and ourselves.

We must change our thinking, change ‘business-as-usual’, and begin to operate in a manner that is more consistent with environmental systems. There is no ‘waste’ in nature. Everything is a closed loop, with one process’ waste being the raw materials for another process. We must begin to model our production and industry on these natural systems and transition to a sustainable future.

The threat of climate change presents an opportunity to begin this shift and in so doing, address many other environmental issues. It will be both a tremendous challenge and an incredible opportunity. If we, as a generation, take up this challenge with all our effort and strive to move forward into a sustainable future, I truly believe that we will have accomplished something great.

There are two very different futures out there for us: one quite bleak, and another in which we have put ourselves on a path to a sustainable future. The way we choose to tackle the challenge of climate change will to a large degree determine which future we will end up with. And for that reason, I don’t think it is inappropriate to characterize global climate change as ‘the greatest challenge, and opportunity, of our generation.‘

Cheers,

Jesse

on that same note, and i’ve said this before – yes global warming does pretty much mean the end of the world as we know it if it’s not fixed, but it’s arrogant and disrespectful to contsantly proclaim this as “the greatest issue of our generation.” to my friends in the coalfields, the MTR mine above their home remains the most urgent issue of their day-to-day, or that the union got busted and now the bread-winner of the household doesn’t have a medical plan but does have black-lung, or that they can’t drink the water. they can’t. it’s poisonous from the coal sludge disposal. they can’t drink it. but they have to bath in it and wash with it and all. their children are regularly exposed to toxic material right now, today, tomorrow, yesterday and i’m somehow able to define what the most urgent issue of our time is? again, let’s just pursue a little more self-awareness.

i have a lot of thoughts on this that i can’t seem to articualte right now but hopefully this has made somebody think about the whole thing.

willie