We’ve been having the same conversation about climate change for 30 years, and it’s not
working. This booklet is meant to be a glimmer of something different that might break
through dogmatic or narrow discussion about climate change.
The perspective I offer is partly from formal education in environmental studies, but mostly
from experience as I have sought broader answers in places outside of the U.S. norm. I teach
study-abroad courses in Asia and Latin America. My work puts me in touch with environmental
and cultural leaders who are kind enough to share their wisdom. Their conversations feel very
different from ours.
I originally wrote this booklet for my U.S.-based students, and I use “we” to refer to the general
U.S. public. But it’s really for anybody who has felt angry, guilty, or powerless in the face of
climate change.
Introduction
In high school, I learned that personal consumption causes climate change. I learned to feel
guilty about my actions. From environmental activists and lawyers, I learned that corporations
cause climate change. I learned to feel angry and powerless.
As a teacher, I meet many students who feel overwhelmed by climate change. They have
learned that they have two choices: feeling guilty or angry. Usually they feel both.
Part 1: The Lens We See Through
Feeling overwhelmed by climate change?
What Causes Climate Change?
One day in a Tibetan monastery, I asked a Buddhist monk if he knew about the
causes of climate change. Yes, he told me. He knew about greenhouse gases, but he
said that we need to look deeper. He said a culture that creates an unending desire to
consume is the deeper cause of climate change.
It’s easy to feel the need to blame somebody for climate change. We often blame
consumers, corporations, or politicians.
We cannot blame just one group. Our consumption depends on fossil fuel extraction
and fossil fuel extraction depends on our consumption. We are part of corporations,
and they are part of us. In our culture, we could not exist without each other.
We know the scientific causes of climate change, but we have been ignoring the
cultural causes.
We in the U.S. have not seriously considered any solution to climate change that might
threaten our current affluence.
We like recycling because it lets us feel good about treating all things like trash: just throw
it away into two or three bins instead of one. We do not ask what happens after that.
We like electric cars because they support our self absorbed travel habits: speeding
anywhere we desire and outsourcing the pollution.
We feed ourselves fantasies of renewable electricity, ignoring our ever-increasing usage
and other greenhouse gas sources.
A broad carbon tax would be paid by consumers, and therefore unpopular.
Our Solutions are About Maintaining Affluence