Deadly Bickering
With the rise of technology that ever increases the connectivity of the world, each of our own limited spheres of culture and experiences have become interconnected. We are creatures of inseparable biases, limited worldviews, and many nationalities, all caught in an inescapable web of shared customs, creations, and conflicts. And while many may argue between the economic and social benefits of national and global identities, these debates are merely futile jabbers of a long-lost illusion. If at any point in recent history we possessed the privilege of prioritizing national employment levels or pushing for acceptance of global cultures, those days are no more. Our decades of running coal factories, tearing down forests, driving gas cars, and harmful farming habits, has done irreversible damage to our planet. Now, we have left ourselves with one last choice — change or die. Some may argue that it should be left to each nation individually to solve issues of their own excessive emissions, but the Earth’s climate is not a national issue. Rather, climate change is a problem which demands both the resources and cooperation of all countries, and thus is an affair that requires a joint effort of all citizens and countries alike.
The world’s carbon emissions remain at a frighteningly high rate. The International Panel on Climate Change has stated that even limiting climate change to a massive 1.5°C would require a forty-five percent falls in carbon emissions by 2030, and to reach a state of being carbon-emission free by 2050. In a world dominated by energy inequality and still experiencing great demand for new energy growth, such a massive reduction in CO2 is already a formidable challenge. Certainly, it is a goal which a nationalistic mindset would make impossible. That is because nationalism breeds competition between nations. For example, coal burning in China, a massive contributor of carbon emissions, will undoubtedly require vast reform, and this reform would necessarily inhibit production in China, at the very least temporarily. But if the United States, taking a nationalistic approach, is engaged in fierce economic competition with China, then China will certainly not hinder its own economy for the sake of being eco-friendly. By pushing nations to put their own agenda first, a nationalistic mindset becomes a direct opposition to fighting climate change.
Furthermore, nations do not have the power to fight climate change alone. If, for example, the United States were to pass laws limiting the mining of coal or the production of beef or if it were to raise standards for waste created by factories, many affected businesses would not be moved toward sustainability, rather such businesses would simply be pushed out of the country. In such a scenario, neither one’s country nor the world benefits. Yet again, a globalist approach seems to be the only effective option.
But we must analyze deeper than the interactions of countries, or even the actions of companies; instead, we must look at the effects of our own actions. When a company sells oil and gasoline at the expense of our planet or moves a clothing factory overseas to avoid environmental regulations, it is our own actions that drive these decisions. Because when we fill the gas tanks of our cars, or buy clothes built in carbon-heavy, overseas factories, we are demonstrating a demand for environmentally harmful goods. And if we are the ones creating a demand for the destruction of our environment, how can we place the blame upon the companies that merely fulfill our demands? I do understand the trouble, though. When we buy a pair of pants, or plug in our shiny, new televisions, or drive to work, there is no label showing us the harm we are causing, no label telling us the true cost of our acts. But when a single shirt can consume 2,700 liters of water, or when the purchase of a new car drives our planet toward destruction, it becomes our duty to think about the results of our actions.
Even when climate change is tearing down trees in our backyards and stealing snow days from under our feet, it is still all too easy to distance ourselves from the issues. We point our blameful fingers at oil giants as they spill their murderous sludge in our oceans yet fail to notice the Chevron truck as it pulls into our driveways and fills our own tank. We criticize the corporate greed that continues to profit from our planet’s demise, yet when we see the price of installing solar panels on our homes, we shrug off the idea as too expensive.
There will always be an excuse, a reason not to do our part, a bigger bad guy to blame, but in the end, it comes down to us. Each of our collective individual decisions will determine the fate of the world. This is why we must adopt a global mindset. Because the problems we are facing leave us no room to bicker over trade wars or policy debates. Nothing brings a family together like tragedy, so now, as our nurturing mother lays sick, we must put aside our disputes and come together as one global family.
