Climate Change: The Problem of Addressing

Climate change. Liberals use it to scare us. Republicans don’t think that it’s real. And everyone in between barely even thinks about it. The real consequences of climate change seem so far off that we delude ourselves into thinking that we won’t see it in our lifespan. And when we do hear about the harms of climate change, our reaction is similar to the classic meme, “Oh no! … Anyways”.

But reaction isn’t necessarily unjustified. After all, what can a singular person do that would alter climate change? Unless they’re an influencer or a billionaire, not much, really. Everyday people don’t have the power nor the time to be able to actually do anything to solve the problem. Yes, they could decrease oil computation, or go to a rally, or spread awareness, but one person out of several billion doesn’t make a huge difference.

Then, how do we address climate change and stop it?

Honestly, we can’t. Not individually. Not as a small group. Not as a single state. Not even as a country. Not if we can’t agree on climate change.

America is one of the two world powers. What we do sets a precedent arounds the world to do the same thing. We hold so much power, yet the reason why we don’t take initiative one climate change ultimately boils down to two reasons.

One: politicization from both people and politicians. Somehow, climate change, a social and environmental issue, has turned into a political one. Liberals have climate plans, advocated for years but somehow are never rigorously enough after cutting so much out to be able to compensate the conservatives. Conservatives, on the other hand, argue against climate policies.

Why? The inability to compromise. The increased polarization that had led people to one side of a gray battle. Or is it just that they simply don’t believe? Don’t believe in the thousands of studies done to prove climate change. Don’t believe in millions of cries from the people they are meant to represent telling them to do something. Don’t believe in the increased rising sea levels, hotter longer summers, colder winters, the blizzard that hit Texas nor the California wildfires that rage longer and with more intensity every year.

Second: other countries are not doing anything. A common argument against climate policy is that many other countries aren’t doing anything to stop it, so America doesn’t either. To this, I pose two questions. Is America not an independent global superpower that is meant to lead the world? And at that, is the possible extinction of humankind from the global warming year such an insignificant problem that America should wait till others address it before we do?

How has America, the self proclaimed best country in the world, fallen so low that we must wait for others to do something before we - the country that is supposed to set the precedents, not follow them - start acting.

The problem with addressing climate change isn’t the fact we don’t care or we don’t understand the harms. It’s that too many of us don’t think enough about it. There are already climate activists out there spending the time to try to get people to understand the harms of what is happening. All we as people need to do is understand them, vote for people that understand them, and communicate with our political leaders who can do something about it.

A problem like climate change will never go away. That’s the reality we live in. And addressing it is difficult. It takes time and effort. But that time and effort will save lives.