I’m sure you’ve seen it on your timeline or in your classrooms: the IPCC’s recent report indicating that if mankind doesn’t flip its current environmental trajectory by 2030, it will face catastrophic events as a result. The IPCC isn’t the first, or the thousandth, to tell us to get our act together.
The brightest minds from every possible organization, such as the U.N., NASA, the National Wildlife Federation and every other conceivable group has been telling us time and time again that we’ve made serious negative impacts on our environment, and it won’t get better, only worse, if our generation, including us here at NC State, don’t actively do something about it.
Jason Sean Allen, a doctoral candidate in environmental sociology at NC State, believes that while some of the leading causes for the slow response to climate change are receiving the rightful blame they deserve, many other individuals and institutions are getting off scot-free.
“Everyone connected to fossil fuel companies, they don’t want this to happen,” Allen said on the opposition to green regulations.
Allen also pointed out that this isn’t a situation where one party is right and one is wrong. Yes, many Republican lawmakers have an awful track record as far as environmentalism is concerned, but Allen also pointed out the debacle with Green New Deal committee proposal. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and certain other Democrats put forth a committee on the Green New Deal with much lower aspirations and a lot less teeth than activists have asked for, such as no subpoena powers or legislation authority. Lawmakers aren’t understanding the gravity of the situation, and Allen says very few are wanting to take it on.
Thankfully, there’s a chance that we may hit our goal in time. Odds are low, but we are seeing more voices rise up, like teenage activist Greta Thunberg, who’s sparked a major climate movement that’s even spreading outside her homeland of Sweden. Allen firmly believes that our generation is the one who might turn things around.
The Wolfpack could lead the charge on green initiatives, and we have the student and faculty body to do so if we really devote ourselves. NC State is one of the leading educators in science and engineering, and I believe that a bunch of bright-minded individuals could lead the charge in pushing green policy, and maybe even inspire the next great young activist.
But ultimately, no matter how many Greta Thunbergs there are, and how many millions flood the streets wanting our planet to not turn into a noxious fireball, it all comes down to who occupies positions of power, and that’s what worries many, including Allen and myself.
Allen has a decent amount of faith that we’ll correct our course in time. I do too, but a bit less. I mean, it took us a month of bickering just to temporarily re-open our government for a few weeks. But the old class can no longer be depended upon, no matter which side of the average aisle it sits on. It’s up to us to save our world. And that’s not some cliched rallying cry on my part, that’s just an unavoidable fact.
