Activism In If A Tree Falls

To understand where the motivation and passion to protect the environment was developed, one looks to the rapid deforestation of East Coast old-growth forests at the turn of the century. “As Gifford Pinchot expressed it, ‘The American Colossus was fiercely at work turning natural resources into money.’ ‘A

In “The Changing Nature of Nature: Environmental Politics in the Anthropocene” environmental politician Paul Wapner depicts the human impacts on nature, and their significant intervention in ecosystem dynamics. His research outlines the “end of nature” (Wapner, 37) and aims to put emphasis on the beginning of the Anthropocene, suggesting that we are finally realizing that nature is not merely a material object. With this in mind, Wapner argues that the ways in which we protect nature should be significantly different, this, justifying his study. In order to form an argument, Wapner begins by summarizing a general piece of academic research, and through this is then able to provide an organized overview of the logic of his argument. The alternation

In a chilling recollection of mankind’s current misdeeds towards the environment in “The End of Nature,” McKibben’s call for action is one paramount to the survival of the human race. In essence, McKibben argues that the futures of both nature and ourselves are delicately yet undeniably interconnected. Furthermore, he urges that “we” (ALL humans) are the deciding chip in said bond. By doing so, McKibben implies that action must be situated if we are to expect any change in such bleak a situation. This argument can clearly be found when McKibben speaks out on a myriad of environmental issues in the past, present, and future. McKibben begins to accustom readers to a pattern in which human ignorance juts out from past environmental experiences.

In 2004, Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize for her achievements with the Green Belt Movement, which is a non-profit NGO that she founded in her native Kenya. Planting trees for food, timber and fuel isn’t an act that anyone could see as the first step to winning a Nobel Peace Prize. Although, with that simple action, Wangari Maathai of Kenya started down the path that helped to regain her country’s land from a period of deforestation while supplying new sources of nourishment to rural communities. Terry is a Mormon who grew up loving nature and aiming to keep it natural so it was hard for her to understand why there were many people who didn’t care. She found peace in a bird refuge where she then went multiple times. This was her hideaway place, where things made sense. At Great Salt Lake, the bird refuge is home to her, and her family before her. She learned a lot from her grandmother about the ways of the lake, the animals, and how it was to be conserved. Williams clearly takes an ecofeminist stand in Refuge because women are more connected with nature than men. and equality between humanity and earth is very important. The push Williams forces towards women’s rights sends a strong message of resistance about the male patriarchy. Because of the positive outcomes her changes would bring, Williams viewpoint for ecological safety is very significant. There is a lot of progress to be made, but by

In the book The Future of Life, author Edward O. Wilson highlights the ineffective nature of the debates between the two side of environmentalism. He achieves this by pointing out parallels and similarities of the language between two sides in the satirical piece.

Growing up in Switzerland and Oregon, I learned that nature is greatly valued and it is necessary to respect the environment to prevent impending environmental collapse. Living in a society whose morals and ethics include

Environmental justice links a number of social movements—anti-racism, Aboriginals rights, and the mainstream environmental movement—and addresses the problem of environmental racism (Gosine & Teelucksignh, 2008, p. 11). The concept of environmental justice in the U.S was associated with the struggles over toxic waste sites and the call for equal treatment of all communities, radicalized or not (p. 9). It was about looking at human health rather than preserving areas deemed as “playgrounds for the rich.”

As The World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do To Stay In Denial, by Derrick Jensen and Stephanie McMillan, is a graphic novel about the state of our environment. They use cartoons and abundant sarcasm to convey the message that the attempts people are making to save the environment are not enough to do any real good. Their message challenges both those of Edward O. Wilson and the University of Connecticut in that Jensen and McMillan’s ideas are much more radical and suggest that the ideas posed by Wilson and UConn, such as the importance of recycling and sustainability efforts, are ineffective at saving the environment. We must resolve the challenges posed by Jensen and McMillan so that all of the ideas put forth in the sources may work together rather than against each other. In order to do this we must accept that some of the ideas given by Jensen and McMillan may be too extreme to do any real good and that the ideas suggested by Wilson and UConn, though slightly ineffective, are nonetheless important steps in saving the environment. Taken alone, none of their ideas will save the environment; instead it is necessary to combine the ideas of Wilson, UConn, and Jensen and McMillan in order to create a more realistic plan to save the planet.

Mckibben once again articulates his repetitive view that, “it’s a moral question, finally, if you think we owe any debt to the future.” (748). In many circumstances it is believed that if it had been done to us, we would dislike the generation that did it, just as how we will one day be disliked. The solution given in the essay on how to handle these environmental issues is to start a moral campaign. In other words, “… turn it into a political issue, just as bus boycotts began to make public the issue of race, forcing the system to respond. “ (748). As a part of the overall populist causing these issues, Mckibben understands that the hardest part about starting this moral campaign is identifying a villain to overcome. Briefly

Environmental documentarian, Bridget Besaw, combines both photography and film to advocate wilderness preservation and food sustainability. She creates “visual stories that serve as a rousting, yet romantic reminder of our collective instinct to care for the planet” (Besaw, 2015). Besaw’s photography captures a range of environmental issues from “threats to Maine’s wilderness, loss of working farmland in New England, restoration of crucial salmon habitat in the North Pacific, wilderness preservation in South America, and sustainable fisheries initiatives throughout the world” (Besaw, 2015). Besaw uses photography so others get “a closer understanding of and relationship to their own bodies and the planet that provides them with life. So for

Shared orientations of green movements – because of the diversity in environmental justice they are not identical but they share three common traits (1) the politics of being green, (2) the multi-issue basis of green theory and oppression of those green theories, and (3) the appeal to the historically situated theories.

The Afton protests energized a new faction within the civil rights movement that saw the environment as another front in the struggle for justice. Many early environmental justice leaders came out of the civil rights movement. They brought to the environmental movement the same tactics they had used in civil rights struggles -- marches, petitions, rallies, coalition building, community empowerment through education, litigation and nonviolent direct action,” (The Environmental Justice.) But many argue the fact that even if civil rights did not happen, the community members of government intentionally polluted waste lands would still

Guha describes that environmental movements in the poor countries of South America developed quite differently from those in the rich nations of North America and Western Europe. Southern movements began as a challenge to the "postmaterialist values" of the North, according to which the backward South was incapable of developing any serious environmental movement until it became fully developed like the North. On the contrary, Guha then descirbes the environmentalism of the poor South is steps ahead of the North. This is because the southern environmental movements simultaneously demand social justice. This relationship is divorced in the environmental movements of the developed North. Guha sites the examples of radical environmental movements

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss depicts a world ravaged by deforestation and suffering from other environmental crises. In the town of Thneedville, an aspiring capitalist begins to sell his new product and as a result of booming business, the cornerstone of his business pays the price. The trees, the only natural resource used in production, are harvested to the point of extinction. The lack of trees leads to soil erosion, air pollution, and species extinction. While this is a children’s tale and Dr. Seuss’s illustration may be quite extreme, it is a reality for future generations of our planet. Human involvement in ecosystems by clearing land for urban development, logging, and agriculture have all exacerbated the rate of decline in the region’s natural systems. The deforestation of rainforests for the cultivation of palm oil is causing the possible extinction of orangutans and exacerbating air quality issues in Indonesia.

In the writing of this paper the author uses Ecocriticism as the main theory and the movie Wall-E (2008) by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton as the object of analysis. The story follows a robot named Wall-E, who is designedto clean up an abandoned, waste-covered Earth far in the future. The author feel interested and challenged to analyze further the learning about the growing issue of Ecocriticism because of disharmony of nature with other elements in nature itself.