Week 10 reflection

In the readings this week, we went more in depth and revisited some  important topics that we had started to discuss before the midterm, including the importance of environmental data under the Trump administration, the “big tent”, gendered climate policies, the dangers of companies like Entergy, and the Green New Deal.  In his article explaining the GND, author David Roberts discusses the “Just Transition” that will be necessary to reach the GND’s objectives. This transition includes restructuring the economy to focus on decarbonization and green jobs. In a pamphlet from the DSCEJ, the need for this transition is illustrated through the example of Entergy, a powerful energy company more focused on financial gain than community safety.  In our current economy, companies believe that there is more incentive to develop dangerous and expensive plants than it is to invest in clean energy and clean jobs. These kinds of companies are also closely linked financially to a lot of politicians that make policies that make it easier for these companies to do harm and get away with it, or even benefit from the harm caused. This is linked to our readings this week on science under Trump and environmental data justice in the Trump administration.  According to the readings, not only has Trump’s admin suppressed important climate change data, but it also has actively hindered the abilities of the EPA to do its job by appointing the wrong people with the wrong interests who are passing policies that harm low-income communities and communities of color, while protecting environmental polluters.

The pamphlet on Entergy, as well as our other discussions and guest speaker about the company, further led me to believe that these companies truly do not want to see or engage in change because it would require them to possibly temporarily sacrifice some (undeserved and excessive) financial gain in the short term to save the planet in the long term.  It is interesting to think about this concept alongside the articles we read this week highlighting women organizers, as I feel like most of the people running companies like Entergy and destroying communities and families is probably older, white males. In the articles about the UN Climate Summit and grassroots orgs, it was demonstrated how driven and organized a lot of female organizations are, which gives me hope that their organizational skills will be enough to combat the masculine political structures in place.  A large percent of grassroots climate change organizers are women, yet most policy around the issue and even scientific approach to solutions is very masculine and not the most effective as a result.

Some of the key words this week include climate change  reparations, environmental data justice, and commoning. Climate change reparations essentially entail forcing the corporations and nations that have caused the most damage to the environment and other people’s communities to pay damages to those people and communities that they have harmed most.  Environmental data justice centers on the idea that, especially in the era of Trump, data about our past, current and future environmental conditions is extremely important to preserve and protect so that it is accessible to all. Commoning is the ongoing struggle for direct control and access over wealth and resources not controlled by the market.