[name withheld]
Pers. 2450
Dr. Santas
19 September 2013
Response Assignment 2
Contemporary western society, and its many touted achievements, was/is principally made possible only through the utilization of fossil fuels. With the use of these energy sources came great economic prosperity and the advancement of the capitalist system. With the advancement of the capitalist state came wealth accretion in the hands of a few, who then monopolized national wealth and propagated the ideology of trickle-down economics (in its many historical forms), among the populace. Accordingly, this system – characterized by the interplay between monopoly capital, labor, the state and said groupings dependency on fossil fuels – has remained largely unscathed since the industrial revolution, with all parties concerned benefiting, although in highly inequitable fashions, in such ways that none have yet to fully challenge the status quo. However, our society is now increasingly being forced to grapple with the socio-environmental consequences of the system and how they will come to shape the future world. An issue of paramount importance among these growing concerns is humanities continued use of fossil fuels, which stand as the primary energy sources that perpetuate the current socio-economic and political order.
As stated, the utilization of fossil fuels stands as the foundational bases for contemporary society. It is our ability to exploit these energy resources that allows for mass agricultural production that would otherwise be impossible. With this form of agricultural production comes the ability to support massive populations, which in turn, consume more and more oil and gas. In this way, a destructive cycle of production and consumption has largely come to define modern human civilization. Yet, the negative consequences of this vicious cycle are increasingly becoming lucid, a fact which is aggressively pursued in the documentary An Inconvenient Truth.
In this film, Al Gore passionately advocates for a formal deviation from the use of fossil fuels and the pursuit of alternative/renewable energy sources - such as wind and solar. In doing this he delineates a wide-range of scientific data that indicate dramatic shifts in atmospheric CO2 levels and their correlation to human activity and global climate change. For example, Gore contends that over the last 650 thousand years CO2 levels have never supposed 300 parts per million (ppm), but now stand at 600ppm; further, that these levels will continue to grow exponentially without drastic changes in global patterns of fossil fuel consumption. In this way, Gore posits that we have entered a “period of consequences,” which is most easily denoted by a clash between human civilization and the planet. Through these assertions, Gore contends that the matter of global climate change, and its correlation to the use of fossil fuels, has ultimately transcended being a mere political concern and now must be considered as a moral issue.
While An Inconvenient Truth seeks to highlight the dire environmental costs associated with current trends of fossil fuel consumption, the films Gasland and Trinkets and Beads bring an additional social aspect to the discussion. For instance, Gasland addresses how continued demand for gas and oil has led to an increase in the practice of hydraulic fracturing. This method of gas and oil retrieval has proven to have profound negative effects on the local environments in which it is conducted and on the people that live in them. In highlighting this topic, the documentary is effective in bringing a human dimension to the subject of fossil fuel use and its correlation to instances of environmental injustice on U.S. soil.
Similarly, the film Trinkets and Beads addresses oil extraction in the Amazon and the many negative consequences experienced by indigenous communities as a result. In large part, this documentary focuses on multinational corporate expansion into less developed countries (LDCs), their modes of operation, methods of oil retrieval and how these practices are a primary contributor to cultural and environmental degradation within the region. In short, this film shows how the current system of production and consumption – a system that is sustained on fossil fuels – leads to both national and international socio-economic and environmental policy formation that allows for the rights and freedoms of indigenous communities to be stolen and subordinated to the interest of energy consumption within more developed nations. As a result of these events, the native lands of the Cofan and Huaoruni tribes – along with much of their cultural heritage – have been decimated by corporate expansion into the region.
As previously stated, the current system – which is dependent on fossil fuels – has historically provided sufficient benefits to all concerning parties and therefore has remained largely unchallenged. However, as all three films point out, we are now entering a period of consequences, in which some people are increasingly beginning to recognize that the rewards are no longer adequate and in fact, that they never were in the first place. That said, it is my personal view that the vast majority of people still perceive their personal interest, and general well-being, to be inextricably associated with the current system and its uninhibited continuance. Therefore, how does once actively pursue change?
To address this question, one should look to nations that have had similar experiences and that have shown successes in deviated from full-fledged fossil fuel usage. For example, we can look to many European countries that have made considerable advancements in the direction of alternative/renewable forms of energy. It is my understanding that this transition in energy consumption patterns was largely achieved through state policy formation. In other words, European nations simply stopped subsidizing oil or at least seriously decreased subsidizes to this industrial sector. In turn, this action led to a dramatic increase in the cost of fossil fuels, with the price of gas jumping from between $7 to $8 per gallon in a relatively short period of time. Due to this economic strain put on European populations, people began demanding more affordable forms of energy. Thus, Europe has made commendable strides in the field’s alternative energy and in technologies to more efficiently use them. Also noteworthy, is that the precautionary principle is alive and well within many European nations. This principle guarantees that the burden of proof falls on industry, thereby, ensuring that the public and environment are being adequately protected from the potentially harmful effects of industrial extraction and production of fossil fuels.
When comparing many European nations with the U.S. one is left to wonder why similar policy changes and legal protections have not been implemented in the United States. To answer this question, one should examine the role of an increasingly integrated state and economic order, which through various mechanisms (mass media, political rhetoric, etc.) has proven to be more than adequate in assuaging public anxieties toward our current ecological crises and its correlation to fossil fuels. So when asked to consider “what we need to do” about our current addiction to fossil fuels, the logical answer is that eventually the chickens will come home to roost. In other words, that the social and environmental strains produced by the system and its continued dependence on fossil fuels will begin to effect the U.S. citizenry at a personal level and thus trigger change. However, given this nation’s relative affluence, it is safe to assume that we will be the last to feel the inevitable distresses that have and will continue to arise from our current socio-economic and political organization. And, unfortunately, the time we have left to alter our current trajectory is short.