The State of the Union (from the climate's point of view)

80% of America’s energy will come from clean energy sources by 2035, Obama boldly proclaimed in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. No more subsidies for oil, and one million electric cars on the road by 2015 were two more ambitious goals set by the great orator.

Bold words, Obama, bold words.

Sitting in front of the television, I got excited. My heart raced. This is what I want to hear! Tell me more!

However, somehow he couldn’t muster up the courage to utter the words “climate change.” He failed to link any of his proclamations to the one force governing all of the effort. I understand his decision due to the deeply divided political climate. But it still disappointed me to think that we have taken some steps backward politically.

50% of Americans don’t attribute climate change to human causes. Can you believe that, students of the Berkeley bubble? We live in a world where we listen to and believe scientists, and aren’t afraid to confront “inconvenient truths.” But 50% of America is living in a completely different world.

I hope from the bottom of my heart that Obama’s inspiring speech will spur some big changes into action. We do need clean energy and we do need electric cars, and we need them as soon as possible. But we also need a political climate that unitedly accepts climate change as a challenge to confront today.

The bay and San Francisco at sunset, observed from the Berkeley hills

The Suburbs, The City, And Me

When I tell people that I grew up in the suburbs, I say it always with a hint of embarrassment, resentment... Yes, Bethesda, Maryland is about as "perfectly suburban" as they get- great public schools, great big houses, wide roads, beautiful lawns, traffic circles, speed bumps, barking dogs... everything. I didn't always feel so bitter about the suburbs. I have fond memories of climbing trees and flashlight tag in the park, lemonade stands, fourth of July floats and parades. I also remember hating trips to New York City, where I felt "sick" and hated all the concrete. I remember dreading the claustrophobic trips to the National Mall to watch the fireworks with a million other people.

So what changed? Two things: I went to school in DC, and I became environmentally aware.

The Puzzle Pieces of Environmentalism

When I started this blog a year and a half ago, I was inspired, passionate, energetic, and naive. I still am all of those things (I hope!) but I've learned a lot in that time... from classes, politics, family discussions, friends, my own reflections and observations about the world, and more. I've rallied for clean energy in the capital, I've worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service, I've joined other young people at a climate congress, I've worked in the wilderness maintaining trails, I've fought with CalPIRG at Berkeley to defeat Prop 23. My life over the past few years has been a series of hops from one "environmental" opportunity to the next.

But lately, with the help of my Intro to Environmental Studies class at Berkeley, co-taught by ecology professor Garrison Sposito and U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass, I've begun to question what I mean when I describe myself as an "environmentalist." Does anyone really know what that term is meant to signify, encompass, evoke?

Most people point to the 1960s and 70s as the beginning of environmentalism, with Silent Spring, hippies, the first celebrated Earth Day, and the passage of legislation like the Clean Air Act and the creation of the EPA. Of course, environmental philosophy predates the hippies by centuries, but it wasn't called "environmentalism" until someone named it that in the 60s. Before "environmentalism" there was the dichotomy of conservation and preservation, with each movement's respective icons, Gifford Pinchot and John Muir. Aldo Leopold spearheaded the embracing of the field of ecology. There are many ways to think about nature, and mankind's relationship with nature, and somehow everything got put under the environmental umbrella. I'm all for unity in our efforts, but I worry that it's too easy for individuals to avoid confronting moral dilemmas and working out their own views and opinions. Instead of working at determining your own philosophy to live by and fight for, you can just call yourself an environmentalist.