The world is in denial, climate change is happening, and the earth is dying because people are killing it. A clear example of this denial is seen in the decline of news coverage regarding environmental change, “in 2007, the three major U.S. networks—CBS, NBC, and ABC ran 147 stories on climate change; in 2011 the networks ran just fourteen stories on the subject” (Klein, 34). People do not want to hear about climate change and decreasing natural resources. Continued denial will be the downfall of human existence if the world population continues on the present path of destruction; positive change to the global footprint must incorporate control of the population, its consumption, and future technological choices.
In This Changes Everything …show more content…
There is an underlying theme beneath climate change and how to fix it. Individual responsibility, a sense of responsibility that is seriously lacking not only in the U.S but across the globe. As Maniates states in his article, Individualization: Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World?, “My claim in this is that an accelerating individualization of responsibility in the United States is narrowing, in dangerous ways, our “environmental imagination” and undermining our capacity to react effectively to environmental threats to human well-being” (Maniates, 34). He goes on to explain how the small things corporations and government are asking the general population to participate in are not enough. Recycling, turning off the water while brushing our teeth, and planting trees cannot reverse the daily damage taking place on a larger scale by large corporations. Maniates explains how the conceptual formula IPAT is the key to solving the environmental crisis the world faces. IPAT is a simple formula that states, the size of the world population, over consumption by said population, and corporate, governmental, and personal technological choices are the cause of our environmental crisis. Change must encompass and incorporate all of these key concepts in order for positive global environmental improvement to occur (Maniates, 45). While Maniates claims all 3 key concepts in the IPAT formula must be present in order for improvement to occur Klein disagrees. She believes the consumeristic behaviors of the rich far outweigh reproduction habits of the poor. Essentially, all people must open their imaginations to the larger picture and refuse to sit in denial and continue
In This Changes Everything …show more content…
There is an underlying theme beneath climate change and how to fix it. Individual responsibility, a sense of responsibility that is seriously lacking not only in the U.S but across the globe. As Maniates states in his article, Individualization: Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World?, “My claim in this is that an accelerating individualization of responsibility in the United States is narrowing, in dangerous ways, our “environmental imagination” and undermining our capacity to react effectively to environmental threats to human well-being” (Maniates, 34). He goes on to explain how the small things corporations and government are asking the general population to participate in are not enough. Recycling, turning off the water while brushing our teeth, and planting trees cannot reverse the daily damage taking place on a larger scale by large corporations. Maniates explains how the conceptual formula IPAT is the key to solving the environmental crisis the world faces. IPAT is a simple formula that states, the size of the world population, over consumption by said population, and corporate, governmental, and personal technological choices are the cause of our environmental crisis. Change must encompass and incorporate all of these key concepts in order for positive global environmental improvement to occur (Maniates, 45). While Maniates claims all 3 key concepts in the IPAT formula must be present in order for improvement to occur Klein disagrees. She believes the consumeristic behaviors of the rich far outweigh reproduction habits of the poor. Essentially, all people must open their imaginations to the larger picture and refuse to sit in denial and continue