When you picture someone who voted for Trump, do you imagine someone who voted for Obama in 2008? Probably not. But believe it or not, these people exist, and many of them supported Trump this time around because he seemed to share their outrage at being left behind by outsourcing and promised to bring back or save their existing jobs. Even though Trump has already reneged on his promise to save many of the jobs he swore he’d preserve, the working class still rightfully mistrusts the left for overlooking their concerns. Given the recent appointment of a climate change denier as chief of the Environmental Protection Agency, environmental progressives need to build a mass movement for environmental protection and justice, which means we need to earn the support of working-class people. To do this, environmentalists must pay attention to their concerns and collaborate with workers in the fossil-fuel industry on a game plan for a just transition to a greener economy.
Indeed, if we are to combat global warming, of course we need to stop the rampant use of fossil fuels. In its place, the grand vision and hope is to transition our economy from relying on fossil fuels to using renewable energy sources. (This becomes an additionally pressing issue for those who are concerned with the U.S.’s “soft power” as China vies to become the world leader in clean energy.)
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We need to build partnerships with labor. While that may sound overly ambitious or optimistic, thankfully, there is hope. It turns out that, contrary to popular framing, union workers actually favor environmental protections at higher rates than the general population. Thus, we can team up with these environmentally conscious workers for the public good. Indeed, we can use the resources, networks, and institutional frameworks of unions to support the environmental
With the well-being of future generations in mind, environmental concerns have begun to establish a permanent residence atop the priority ladder for a vast array of Americans. Consequently, writers and political pundits alike are seizing this opportunity to capitalize on advocating their stance on the issue. Information, representing all positions, pours in at an unrelenting and unfathomable rate. For the average American it can be an arduous process sifting through all the rhetoric in attempt to find the real truth regarding our impact as humans on the environment; one such example is Susan Brown’s article The EPA’s Mercury Problem. In this article Brown attempts to expose hypocrisy among progressives by paralleling the Environmental Protection
In the research report “Coal Blooded: Putting Profits before People” by the NAACP, they explore devastating health, economic, and environmental effects of coal pollution in low-income communities and communities of color. The NAACP and their allies ranked 378 coal fired power plants nationwide based on their Environmental Justice Performance. They discovered the average income of communities surrounding coal plants are lower than the nationwide average and almost half are people of color. In addition to rankings, they have asserted coal pollution isn’t just an environmental issue, but a civil and human rights issue. “This report will help put a human face on the life and death issue of coal pollution,” stated Executive Director of Indigenous
We have to accept the damage that we have done, and not just my signing a piece of paper, but by passing legislation, by banning huge factories, by doing something. Organizations like Greenpeace and other eco-friendly groups are my idols. I would join, if I
Environmentalists host one of America's largest political lobbies. Groups such as Greenpeace protest with millions of members worldwide on issues ranging from destruction of rainforests, oil companies, nuclear wastes, Greenhouse effect, and biodiversity.
voice his or her opinion on what direction the country should take in the next four years. Casting a vote, John Q. Taxpayer gets a voice in determining how some of his money will be spent, which issues will take priority and which will get pushed aside until the next election year. But what if choosing another president is not enough? What if John Q. Taxpayer believes his
The theme isn't just civil disobedience. The theme is about rights, laws, freedom, and segregation. All those things go into civil disobedience but be able to look at them separately before putting them together. This report includes “On Nonviolent Resistance” by Mohandas Gandhi, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the poem “Civil Disobedience” by Eric Cockrell. Just because the phrase “Civil Disobedience” looks wrong and violent, looks can be deceiving. Civil disobedience, a nonviolent way to protest, is the best method people could've been blessed with, but that's an opinion. Is segregation really a disease to the mind, body, and soul? Is civil disobedience a method that could be used to solve it?
Green Peace has been an advocate for protecting the Earth, their measures are extreme and somewhat effective. Believing that everyone can take part in their way to protect the environment, furthermore you just have to find your path of what you truly believe in. Big industry has recognized that this effects them as well, noticing an abundance of solar panels, wind mills, and geo-thermal type heating and cooling systems that are available today.
The U.S obtains more than 84% of its energy from fossil fuels including oil, coal and natural gas. This is because people rely on it to heat their homes, power industries, run vehicles, manufacturing, and provision of electricity. It is apparent that the country’s transportation industry highly depends on conventional petroleum oil, which is responsible for global warming, thus threatening economic opulence and national security. Apart from that, increasing consumption of fossil fuels have elevated health problems in the state, destroyed wild places, and polluted the environment. After conducting Environmental Impact Assessment, projections showed that the world energy consumption would increase by more than 56% between 2010 and 2040. However, fossil fuels will cater for more than 80% of the total energy used in 2040. Sadly, it will be a trajectory to alter the world’s climate, as well as, weaken the global security environment. Importantly, the rate at which the US relies on fossil fuels needs to reduce since it has adverse effects on the planet’s supplies. The society needs to realize that fossil fuels are nonrenewable, thus taking millions of years to form (Huebner, 2003). Notably, the country can reduce dependency on fossil fuels by practicing energy conservation and efficiency,
Unfortunately, as the rights of African Americans have came such a long way since the times of activists like Martin Luther and Malcolm X, we are starting to see a reemergence of this hate in our society. America has been shaped into the “Land of the free and the home of the brave” and continues to be driven by this myth that America is a place where equality is never challenged and peace is a constant. This myth couldn't be farther from the truth. It is proven by the controversies surrounding modern day protests, which of course include the protests by many of the NFL players.
Since the beginning of the United States government, Americans have had the right to vote. This right is entitled to most citizens of America, but it is not entitled to citizens that have been convicted of felonies. This is called disenfranchisement; where an ex-felon cannot vote, own a weapon or go into the army. Specifically, voter disenfranchisement; only two states in the US are not subject to this law. In the past 40 years due to disenfranchisement the United States criminal justice system has withheld the voting rights of 6.1 million Americans due to their convictions. Maine and Vermont do not hold restrictions due to past felonies. With over 3.1 million civilians out of prisons or other facilities this hurts the overall point of democracy, making it unconstitutional to withhold these rights that are stated in the amendments for the knowledge of American citizens.
Disobedience has been a man’s virtue ever since laws have been constructed. As a progression that has developed in our society , it is safely to indicate that disobedience is morally acceptable by the common people. In order for change, people have demonstrated disobedience successfully to promote social progress, change is impossible without disobedience.Our society has failed to realize that there is no such thing a “perfect society”. There are people in our society who agree with change and would sacrifice themselves for it through violence and multiple times of rejection. Many individuals known as the majority simply do not like change. This majority is the group that construct these laws that we must follow. Thoreau states ,” A majority is permitted , and for a long period continue, to rule, is not because they are mostly likely right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest.” Although we do perceive the system as the strongest, citizens still use disobedience to challenge the system’s authority. Disobedience is a man’s virtue when our natural rights are being violated by the majority . In order for change to occur the common people must use disobedience to fight the injustice in their society to promote social progress.
The American duty requires to use voices, symbols, strength, and intelligence to unite and prosper against an unjust authority. Recently, different organizations continue to express their wants and changes to the government through peaceful protests. Civil disobedience strives to develop in America, however improvement continues to happen. The advantageous duty conveys civil disobedience. With Henry David Thoreau’s pivoting piece about individualism and protesting, Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter towards equal rights and rebellion, the developing civil disobedience continues to fulfill the American society.
With the rapid industrialization of the world we are currently at a stalemate, with the rapidly depleting supply of resources and the growing demand, we must either come up with new methods or risk the loss of those resources altogether. In order to address these issues, the BlueGreen Alliance was formed. The BlueGreen Alliance is the unlikely partnership of The United Steel Workers Union and the environmentalist group Sierra Club, working together in order “to build a cleaner and fairer economy”. The normally opposing organizations are collaborating to improve “environmental policy and expand the number of and quality of jobs in the green economy.” Since the BlueGreen Alliance may be the first major collaborative group working to tackle these issues their effectiveness in comparison to other options has not been evaluated. In this paper we will look at the ties between economical and environmental problems, what the BlueGreen Alliance has accomplished, and other alternatives before determining the best course of action to build a cleaner and fairer economy.
The United States is the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, and yet is doing very little to fix this startling statistic (Dennis). The US’ reliance upon outdated energy sources continues to harm both the environment and the economy by producing millions of tonnes of pollution every year and costing the government billions of dollars (“Fact Sheet: Clean Power Plan”). Fossil fuels have been the main energy sources in America since the industrial revolution, and it is time to make a change. Renewable energy is energy harnessed from sources like the sun, wind, or water, and has little to no negative effects on the environment (“Renewable Energy Technology Basics”). The United States needs to integrate and increase the use of these types of energy across the country, as well as implement positive environmental policies, to prevent further pollution of the earth and combat the effects of climate change.
The economy today runs on an antiquated ritual of exploiting, plundering, devastation, and manipulation of land for material wealth, profiting the wealthy and condemning the poor. This mindset is no more sophisticated than feudalism, a system so bad it had to be outlawed along with witchcraft. The idea that exploitation of land is justified has brought plastics to the ocean and leveled rainforests. Large corporations have grown larger by manufacturing and production, depleting the planet’s resources in the process. Now, companies must make a combined effort to put the environment first, before profit. Because of their harmful practices, consumers have the right to know where products come from, how they’re made, and the impact on the environment. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the large corporations to change their harmful practices, to make strides towards ending climate change and use clean, sustainable methods.