Dickinson to Durban » Archive
“Naivety breeds cooperation.”
Last Thursday night the entire Mosaic class (all upperclassmen) and a First-year seminar had the names of countries assigned to them and were put in a room for three hours and told to solve the problem of Global Climate Change. I can’t decide if it was harder or easier than I thought it would be. On one hand, it was a lot more difficult to solve the problem than I expected. At first everyone seemed eager to cooperate. As the night went on, however, people started to get protective of their designated country groups (Developed, Rapidly Developing, and Developing). As part of the Rapidly Developing Group (as India) I thought that it would be relatively easy to negotiate with the “Developed countries” if we just told them we would do what … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues, Mosaic Action
This won’t be easy, folks.
Chapter 5 of A Climate of Injustice by J. Timmons Roberts and Bradley Parks illustrates a set of approaches for allocating greenhouse gas targets. One of the four approaches stood out to me. The strategy in question was proposed by India, China and the Group of 77 and has been endorsed by France, Switzerland and the European Union; it is called the “Per-capita” strategy by Roberts and Parks. This approach is embodied in the emissions … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues
Varying Approaches
Global climate change is a global problem. It is affecting every area of the planet right now. It is affecting humans, plants, animals, chemical cycles, the atmosphere and ocean composition. Climate change is also a result of actions from every corner of the world, from the smoke stacks of China to the farming of a small village in Kenya to the running water that was left on by a child in Chicago. Climate change is the biggest problem that the human race has ever faced, simply because of its vast variety of causes and effects. So how do we fix it? The concept is simple, if we are all causing the problem and if we are all seeing the effects then we all have a responsibility to fix it. In reality, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Mosaic Action
Building a Platform
The spring right after I turned seven I planted a tree. It was a small white pine, and I patted it into my great grandfather’s backyard with my own little hands. Since then I have watched the tree grow from the window of that little house. I remember feeling like I was connecting with something as I planted the tree. I was connecting with the tree, with nature, with my future. I knew, innately, that I was doing a good thing. And I wanted to do it again and again. I don’t think that planting one tree will save the world. No more than I think that buying a sustainable dishwasher or riding a bike instead of a car will stop climate change. But I do not deny that it is important. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Mosaic Action
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