12 Making Sense of the Climate Crisis
Activists and scientists use a variety of perspectives to understand climate change and climate activism. This section will look at environmental justice, environmental race theory, ecofeminism, youth climate change activism, and Critical Environmental Justice theories and actions.
Figure 8.15. Silent Spring Book Cover. Environmentalist Rachel Carson wrote the book Silent Spring. Published in 1962, it described how the pesticide DDT was killing birds. As a result, DDT was banned, and eagles, brown pelican, and osprey populations have rebounded. However, bird populations are generally still in decline, representing one component in biodiversity loss (Guynup 2022).
In addition to warming temperatures and loss of wildlife, we can look at climate change through the lens of the social problems process. As we examine how the environmental movement began in the United States, we begin with environmentalist and author Rachel Carson. In her book Silent Spring (1962), she described how toxic pesticides were killing populations of robins and causing deeper environmental damage, as seen in figure 8.15. This book highlights the work of activists of the time making claims about environmental problems, which is Step 1 of Claims-making in Best’s model of the social problems process.
By raising these issues with books, articles, and debates, activists used the media in various ways to engage people. Public awareness steadily grew concerning the connection between human activity, ecological degradation, and the dramatic loss of biodiversity. This awareness is covered in Step 2: Media Coverage and Step 3: Public Reaction in the Best Claims Making Model. Out of this awareness, the environmental movement was formed to put pressure on political institutions to address the damage that had already occurred and prevent further harm from happening in the future.
As a result of an increase in public awareness and an admirable concerted effort by the environmental movement, many governments banned or restricted the use of DDT and similar pesticides. The changes in policies show Step 4: Policymaking in the model. The changes in laws, regulations, and policies have saved many threatened species. They have also held polluting industries accountable for the damage that they caused. The implementation of government laws and policies is incorporated in Step 5: Social Problems Work, and Step 6: Policy Outcomes. Although the work of environmental change is ongoing, we find concrete examples of Best’s model at work in society.
What is Environmental Racism?
Environmental racism is any environmental policy or practice which disadtoxic pesticides were based on race . The term was first coined in 1982 by Reverend Dr. Benjamin Chavis during what many consider one of the earliest environmental justice actions in the U.S. Warren County, North Carolina residents came together to protest the siting of a toxic landfill in a predominantly Black community (