In this episode, we explore how environmental issues have become political battlegrounds, the evolution of green politics, and the challenges of addressing climate change at both individual and systemic levels.
Episode Segments
1. “Green Politics Through the Ages” (4 minutes)
- Early environmentalism in the U.S. emerged primarily among wealthy elites focused on wilderness preservation (Hays, 1987)
- Earth Day 1970 marked environmentalism’s transformation from niche interest to political movement (Rome, 2013)
- Environmental protection became increasingly technical and bureaucratic (Layzer, 2012)
- Climate science denial tactics borrowed from tobacco industry playbook (Oreskes & Conway, 2010)
- International agreements like the Paris Agreement rely on voluntary “nationally determined contributions” rather than binding commitments (Keohane & Oppenheimer, 2016)
2. “Adulting on a Dying Planet” (5 minutes)
- The “individualization of responsibility” debate: personal vs. systemic action (Maniates, 2001)
- Global carbon inequality: richest 10% produce half of individual emissions while poorest 50% contribute only 10% (Oxfam, 2015)
- Corporate promotion of consumer environmentalism while fighting regulatory approaches (Beder, 2002)
- Eco-anxiety and psychological impacts of environmental awareness (Clayton et al., 2014)
- Political greenwashing and the “environmentalism of the rich” (Dauvergne, 2018)
- How media “balance” norms have given equal coverage to climate science and denial (Boykoff & Boykoff, 2007)
3. “Climate Consequences Across the Map” (4 minutes)
- Island nations facing existential threats despite minimal historical emissions (Barnett & Campbell, 2010)
- The “Arctic scramble” for resources in newly ice-free areas (Dodds, 2010)
- Environmental justice: pollution burdens falling disproportionately on poor communities and communities of color (Bullard, 1990)
- Renewable energy transitions require political choices beyond just technology (Burke & Stephens, 2018)
- “Natural” disasters reflect power structures and policy decisions (Robbins, 2012; Neumann, 2005)
4. “Beyond Recycling” (1 minute)
- “Climate capitalism” attempts to address climate change within growth-focused frameworks (Newell & Paterson, 2010)
- “Polycentric approaches” needed at multiple scales rather than single solutions (Ostrom, 2010)
- Climate change as an issue of power, justice, and decision-making (Parks & Roberts, 2010)
Featured Research & References
- Barnett, J., & Campbell, J. (2010). Climate change and small island states: Power, knowledge, and the South Pacific. Earthscan.
- Beder, S. (2002). Global spin: The corporate assault on environmentalism. Chelsea Green Publishing.
- Boykoff, M. T., & Boykoff, J. M. (2007). Climate change and journalistic norms: A case-study of US mass-media coverage. Geoforum, 38(6), 1190-1204.
- Bullard, R. D. (1990). Dumping in Dixie: Race, class, and environmental quality. Westview Press.
- Burke, M. J., & Stephens, J. C. (2018). Political power and renewable energy futures: A critical review. Energy Research & Social Science, 35, 78-93.
- Clayton, S., Manning, C. M., & Hodge, C. (2014). Beyond storms & droughts: The psychological impacts of climate change. American Psychological Association.
- Dauvergne, P. (2018). Why is the global governance of plastic failing the oceans? Global Environmental Change, 51, 22-31.
- Dodds, K. (2010). Flag planting and finger pointing: The Law of the Sea, the Arctic and the political geographies of the outer continental shelf. Political Geography, 29(2), 63-73.
- Hays, S. P. (1987). Beauty, health, and permanence: Environmental politics in the United States, 1955-1985. Cambridge University Press.
- Keohane, R. O., & Oppenheimer, M. (2016). Paris: Beyond the climate dead end through pledge and review? Politics and Governance, 4(3), 142-151.
- Layzer, J. A. (2012). Open for business: Conservatives’ opposition to environmental regulation. MIT Press.
- Maniates, M. F. (2001). Individualization: Plant a tree, buy a bike, save the world? Global Environmental Politics, 1(3), 31-52.
- Neumann, R. P. (2005). Making political ecology. Hodder Arnold.
- Newell, P., & Paterson, M. (2010). Climate capitalism: Global warming and the transformation of the global economy. Cambridge University Press.
- Oreskes, N., & Conway, E. M. (2010). Merchants of doubt: How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming. Bloomsbury Press.
- Ostrom, E. (2010). Polycentric systems for coping with collective action and global environmental change. Global Environmental Change, 20(4), 550-557.
- Oxfam. (2015). Extreme carbon inequality: Why the Paris climate deal must put the poorest, lowest emitting and most vulnerable people first. Oxfam International.
- Parks, B. C., & Roberts, J. T. (2010). Climate change, social theory and justice. Theory, Culture & Society, 27(2-3), 134-166.
- Robbins, P. (2012). Political ecology: A critical introduction (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
- Rome, A. (2013). The genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 teach-in unexpectedly made the first green generation. Hill and Wang.