Properly identifying environmental heroes
Don’t casually offer the hero title because it damages the impact of those who deserve it
When it comes to the environmental movement, the lyrics to a 1980s hit from Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler keep rattling in my mind.
I need a hero; I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night.
Now, real environmental heroes do exist. Greta Thunberg is a no-brainer. The 16-year-old humbly protested climate change by leaving school every Friday to picket in front of the Swedish parliament. From there, she’s taken a leading role in inspiring students around the world to stand up for climate action.
But, for years, a broad range of groups have anointed people with more questionable credentials as environmental heroes. For a stretch, Time magazine ran an annual list dubbed “Heroes of the Environment.” In 2014, the United Nations released a documentary called “Climate Heroes: Stories of Change.” And, winners of the annual Goldman Environmental Prize have been described as “environmental heroes” in press materials.
This desire to ordain green heroes should be expected. From civil rights (think, Rosa Parks) to labor (Cesar Chavez), we can point to heroes who played integral roles in important and pivotal social change movements. But it’s worth questioning whether this honorific is being devalued in the environmental space.
After all, when Time posted its inaugural “Heroes of the Environment” list in 2007, it included 45 individuals alongside the whole Toyota Prius design team. The Guardian nit-picked that list, arguing that the likes of Prince Charles and Richard Branson didn’t deserve inclusion.
Still, even if every member of Time’s honor roll did merit some recognition, calling them all heroes is likely an oversell. Keep in mind, Greek mythology introduced the hero as a “legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability.” If all of Time’s “Heroes of the Environment” satisfied that definition, the environmental movement likely would have already met every conceivable goal (and presumably even some inconceivable ones).
Admittedly, we’ve long since ratcheted down this meaning. But even modern explanations of what makes a hero require getting over a pretty high bar. A few years ago, an Inc.com author listed five qualities necessary to earn the title: courage, selflessness, humility, patience and caring. While ticking all these boxes may not be as epic as slaying the Minotaur in the Greek meaning of the word, there’s little doubt that some — if not many — of those getting environmental hero plaudits probably don’t quite deserve it.
One could make an argument there isn’t a huge downside in generously sprinkling hero prestige on more, rather than fewer, people. Maybe endowing that designation will inspire some of those inaccurately branded to actually reach full-fledged hero status.
And yet, in these cynical times, this perspective is regrettably misplaced. As most of us implicitly know, whether it’s the media or politicians, Americans nowadays are quick to cast a jaundiced eye on institutions or individuals. Throw in a little exaggeration and let the collective eye-rolling really commence.
This dynamic creates a situation where the public can, as the cliché goes, easily toss the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to environmental heroes. Such a move would serve a gross injustice to environmental efforts because individuals who truly meet the hero criteria can deliver an enormous payoff for their causes.
“Heroes elevate us,” Psychology Today explained in 2014. According to New York University professor Jonathan Haidt, true heroes can trigger what he termed “elevation.” This concept suggests people “feel a mix of awe, reverence and admiration for [the type of] morally beautiful” acts that heroes often perform. Such emotions can draw people into serving in the name of a hero’s cause. In other words, heroic inspiration can make other people better. The Psychology Today article goes on to suggest that heroes can also “heal our psychic wounds,” “nourish our connections with other people,” “show us how to transform our lives” and inspire us to act heroically.
With such upside, heroes are a necessary part of environmental action. Consider the 16-year-old Swedish activist Thunberg, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year. She has been fearless and eloquent in standing up to political leaders — all of whom are much older than her. Last month, for instance, she met with Britain’s Environment Secretary Michael Gove. “It takes a lot for Michael Gove to feel shame,” the British newspaper The Telegraph wrote. Nevertheless, the minister came out of a listening session with Thunberg acting “unusually contrite.”
“As I listened to you, I felt great admiration but also a sense of responsibility and guilt,” Gove said publicly to a group that included Thunberg. “I recognize we have not done nearly enough to deal with the problem of climate change … Suddenly, thanks to the leadership of Greta and others, it has become inescapable that we have to act.”
Thunberg, who has so far made her greatest impact in Europe, is a beginning. But more undeniable heroes — particularly ones in the United States — are necessary. Along those lines, we must have an open mind (and eye) for individuals who fully embody the criteria necessary to be heroic. And when those people come to the fore, we must hold them up and help give them the stage to speak truth to power. Because, unlike most politicians or businesspeople, a hero almost always talks directly to the hearts of regular people.
