Dickinson to Durban » Environmental Politics
“Global Weirding,” Or: One Last Thought on COP17
Claire Tighe ‘13 It’s a lovely day in January. The sun is shining; the day is warm. People are out jogging, walking their dogs, and even golfing. The scary part? I’m not describing Durban, South Africa. I’m describing Chicago, Illinois, USA. Yes, in Chicago, Illinois in January 2012, there are people rounding the eighteenth hole like it’s an early July morning. There’s no snow on the ground; the temperature is nearing fifty degrees farenheit. It’s been a few weeks since my return from the COP17 conference in Durban. Here’s a sum of my thoughts since December. Basically, it’s too late to wait for international governmental regimes to make change for us. At this point, even if all of the countries in the world completely cut all of their carbon emissions, Earth would still … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Conservation, Consumption, Environmental Justice, Environmental Politics, Featured, Key COP17 Issues, Mosaic Action, Student Research
“The Last Destination…” -Pico Iyer
By: Anna McGinn ‘14 “The last destination isn’t the final place on the itinerary, but what happens when you get home and try to make sense of it” -Pico Iyer Over the past few weeks, numerous people have asked me to share with them the highlights of my time in South Africa- What will I most remember about the trip? What were some of the most interesting things I learned? Usually, I respond by explaining that although … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Environmental Politics, Mosaic Action
What do Apartheid, COP17, and Poverty Have in Common?
By Timothy Damon ’12 The answer: South Africa. Apartheid and COP17 may both have ended, but the effects of racism still continue to this day and climate change has only begun to manifest its seriousness. Poverty and unemployment, old problems, yet reign, as does the constant impact from HIV/AIDS. It was against this backdrop that I experienced South Africa during the three weeks of our Mosaic. It was a trip that has left me with much … Read entire article »
Filed under: Environmental Justice, Environmental Politics, Mosaic Action, Student Research
COP17 Outcomes: A Feminist Perspective
Claire Tighe ’13 During our travels in the week following the COP17 conference in Durban, many of the people we met asked us about the outcomes of the meeting. I was particularly discouraged by the time that I reached the Dulles airport in Washington, D.C. when a American youth who had just spent her semester in the southern African region asked what the outcome was and if it was suitable to us. With my tongue in my cheek I muttered, “Depends on who you ask.” If you ask Todd Stern, one of the leading negotiators for the United States delegation, you will find that ” ‘the Durban outcome was a very significant and to some extent surprising outcome,’” and that “ ‘more was accomplished than people anticipated and certainly more than … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Environmental Politics, Featured, Key COP17 Issues, Mosaic Action, Student Research
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