Paul Revere will never ride for environmentalism

All my co-bloggers and I have reached a similar conclusion on Maniates’ argument: the change that is being asked of people now is not enough. I was surprised by how individualized Maniates’ focus on climatic instability was. On the holiday known for community and joint effort, why focus on the individual? Focusing on the individual also helped Maniates’ point, because it was so easy to see through his examples that individual efforts to be “environmental” will not lead to stability. Ultimately, there needs to be a joint, global solution. So, on Thanksgiving, the American public can hopefully realize that having a community is great…but the community needs to act.

In the land of the “quick fix” mentality, Maniates is asking the American public to do more and to expect more from others. He makes it painfully clear the “technological tweaking” will not save our world. In fact, Maniates suggests a complete overhaul of American lifestyle and infrastructure. To those who may feel like that was dramatic…you’re wrong. I was interested that Maniates ultimately suggested political action as the main way to alter climate instability. Politics is exactly what holds back much of the environmental change people are trying to push for. It is our greatest weakness right now, but if altered could become our greatest asset.

Paul Revere will never ride for environmentalism. Maniates makes the claim that past world crises have been solved by a leader in the forefront. Climate change is not like any crisis the world has experienced. The three examples that Maniates uses are all different from climate change because they had very easily seen conflicts. It was possible to see progress quickly, easier to act directly, and when improvements were made they were visible. Climate change involves slow change, unpredictable events, and no visible success for years or decades. Therefore, we cannot attack the problem of climate change like we have other crises in the past like Maniates suggests. We need a new approach; it can still be heroic and revolutionary. There is no waiting around for a leader to emerge and solve the issue…that leader is not coming.