Partiality only hurts climate change debate

UConn Daily Campus , Thursday, April 15, 2010
Correspondent : By Arragon Perrone
Where has global warming gone? Climate change enthusiasts have been unusually silent since the disappointing Copenhagen Summit last December. A series of ethical gaffes, such as the e-mail controversy at the University of East Anglia, have damaged public support. Though these developments discredit radical environmentalists like Al Gore and groups like Greenpeace, they do not harm the broader movement for a cleaner, healthier environment. Instead, these failures allow for more sound discussion among both enthusiasts and skeptics. They also offer the opportunity for new local and regional environmental groups to gain traction.

Thankfully, the grassroots organizations that have emerged are more grounded in practicality than ideology. They focus more on energy independence and economic efficiency than shutting down “evil” industries who are allegedly bent on turning the worldinto one big ball of smog.

Environmentally concerned students can participate in such groups at UConn. According to the online student organization listing, the EcoGarden club seeks to “operate a campus-community garden that follows the practice of sustainable agriculture.” EcoHusky’s Recyclemania competition urges students to recycle in a competitive manner. The Green Grads are “committed to making our community more environmentally aware and active.” Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) at UConn promotes environmental reform through “the free market and the ingenuity of science and technology” rather than “excessive government regulation and bureaucracy.” I admit that I am partial to CFACT, since I am its secretary. But many campus groups tackle environmental issues, and each in their own way. I feel that it is important for students to get involved in environmental issues on campus without adopting the fatalist notion that nothing can be done to improve our environment short of shutting down every industry on the planet. Greenpeace and Gore may believe this, but conservationists don’t have to, nor should they.

The inability of countries or international organizations to broker climate change agreements should not mean the end of environmental awareness. A major fault of the movement was its politicization, which destroyed any attempt at open, honest debate. Individuals who cared about the environment but did not agree with Gore’s conveniently one-sided argument were blacklisted as “skeptics” or “doubters.” Now, whether or not one agrees with them, “skeptics” can share their side of the argument. Under the hegemony of Gore and Greenpeace, it would have been impossible to know that John Coleman, the co-founder of the Weather Channel, thinks global warming is “a scam.” It would also have been impossible to know that Greenpeace’s co-founder, Patrick Moore, now speaks out against the organization. If the words of “doubters” were based on lies, there would have been no attempt at silencing or intimidating them.

Even today, idealistic politics threaten the climate change debate. The media has failed to cover the fears of developing countries in Africa and Latin America, who see curtailing emissions as a threat to their struggling economies. African groups request the controlled use of DDT to save millions of lives from malaria each year. Pablo Solon, Bolivia’s ambassador to the United Nations, attacked Western nations for rejecting a $30 billion aid package that would have helped poor nations switch to low-carbon economic growth. The refusal to provide such funds is a questionable tactic to gain developed countries’ support for limiting carbon emissions. Unfortunately, such heavy-handedness will only satisfy the ideological goals of developed Western nations, not the basic needs of developing countries.

As students, there is little we can do to influence the environment on a national scale, but there is much we can do to improve the well-being of our own campus. Though Recyclemania is over, recycling is the easiest way to care for the environment. Environmental groups also host many events, raising awareness through speakers or special events. Mark Morano, spokesman for Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-OK) and editor of ClimateDepot.com, will be speaking at the university next Wednesday. As the environmental debate shifts toward grassroots groups, students should seize the opportunity to shed the one-sided rhetoric of the past. Now is the chance to embrace the doubts and arguments of both climate change enthusiasts and “skeptics.”

 
SOURCE : http://www.dailycampus.com/commentary/partiality-only-hurts-climate-change-debate-1.1340858
 


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