Sustainability: The War in Washington

Last week Furman graduate Emily Wirzba, who now works in Washington DC as a political consultant with a Quaker lobbyist organization. I was very enthralled with her passionate description of the excitement of working in Washington and I found her description of the application of Quaker ideals in politics even more interesting. While some of her comments on political negotiation regarding climate change were reassuring (reassuring in that there are actually legitimate environmental negotiations going on in DC), I did not feel totally convinced that some of the hard-line climate change deniers she consults with are serious about their commitments. Her comments about the installation of the Keystone Pipeline alone, and how barely half of Republicans in the Senate would even acknowledge climate change as being real, and hardly any saying that it was influenced by humans, were very sobering. As long as these politicians continue to be subsidized by big companies (especially oil companies) and as long as they are afraid to speak what they really feel for fear of losing their vote, I don't think we'll see significant change in how the country addresses sustainability. Those who actually do feel that climate change is an issue are closeted for their beliefs. The media does not bring attention to it - the fact that Fox News is even considered a valid news source I think is a travesty in itself. Money, ratings, and conformity are the names of the game still. Change is present but stunted because of these things... My biggest fear is that we will not enact the change that we need soon enough to save our lifestyle and those of the lives after us.