English 101
Write a response to classmate’s discussion. Thoughtful response to a classmate’s post that elaborates on what s/he has said (at least 75 words)
Classmate’s discussion:
Roxana Basallo
Heglar’s Essay
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Heglar advocates for people to change their thinking as environmentalism have gotten turned into a personal choice where humans get convicted for not upholding ethics. Precisely, Heglar vividly highlights that environmental issues have gotten turned into victim-blaming. Human culture has overtime equated personal consumerism with environmentalism. According to Heglar, such actions have given governments and large corporations a chance to get off the hook as people shame themselves. Therefore, humans should cease the blame as most pollution comes from a small fraction of corporations abetted by governments. Since individual emissions are minute compared to what corporations emit, Heglar blames the organizations and the governments for climate change that is currently happening (Heglar, 2019). Consequently, Heglar calls for people to shift their focus from individual blame and concentrate more on advocating for systemic change to curb climate change.
I agree with Heglar’s point that people should change their mentality and focus on companies and governments as they are the largest polluters. For example, the U.S energy system relies on more than 75% of fossil fuels, thus contributing to climate change. The government allows large companies to continue polluting since it benefits enormously, thus making the U.S become the second-largest polluter globally (Heglar, 2019). Consequently, for a massive change to get witnessed, people need to work together and stop the self-blame imposed on them by society. Even though consumer actions contribute significantly to reducing emissions, real change can only occur when humans hold governments and large corporations accountable. To have a livable future, people need to act by electing leaders with a vision on how to combat climate change at a global scale instead of relying on the usual self-blame analogy.
Reference
Heglar, M. (2019). “I work in the environmental movement. I don’t care if you recycle.” Vox. Retrieved 24 November 2020, from https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/28/18629833/climate-change-2019-green-new-deal.
