#environmental degradation

[queering-ecology]

Chap 12. Melancholy Natures, Queer Ecologies by Catriona Mortimer-Sandilands (part 3, final)

Queer Ecologies

‘what it might mean to inhabit the natural world having been transformed by the experience of its loss’?

‘[the queer artist's] natures are not saved wildernesses; they are wrecks, barrens, cutovers, nuclear power plants: unlikely refuges and impossible gardens. But they are also sites for extraordinary reflection on life, beauty, and community’ (344)

AIDS and Other Clear-Cuts

The artist (Jan Zita Grover’s North Enough) writes about moving from San Francisco, where she has worked as a personal caregiver to many individuals who were dying, and died of, AIDS, eventually to the woods of Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota hoping for ‘a geographic cure’ to her burnout and grief. (344)

‘in their persistence [grief, mourning], generate a form of imagination—an awareness of the persistence of loss—that allows her to conceive of the natural world around her in ways that challenge the logic of commodity substitution characterizing contemporary relations of nature consumption” (344)

“The north woods did not provide me with a geographic cure. But they did something much finer. Instead of ready-made solutions, they offered me an unanticipated challenge, a spiritual discipline: to appreciate them, I needed to learn how to see their scars, defacement, and artificiality and then beyond those to their strengths—their historicity, the difficult beauties that underlay their deformity.  AIDS, I believe, prepared me to perform these imaginative feats. In learning to know and love the north woods, not as they are fancied but as they are, I discovered the lessons that AIDS had taught me and became grateful for them” (344)

Rather than the landscape of her dreams, the land looks more like a candidate for reclamation. Through Grover’s research we learn that the region is one that been ‘systematically abused: logged several times, drained, subjected to failed attempts at agriculture, depleted, abandoned, eroded, invaded, neglected.”

Jack pines are predominant in the region; tenacious, ‘the first conifers to reestablish themselves after a fire” (16), in their own way remarkable even as they are useless for lumber, short lived, and not at all the sorts of trees about which adjectives like ‘breathtaking’ circulate” (345) they are a loud testament to the violence that has generated them.

“the diminishment of this landscape mortified and disciplined me. Its scars will outlast me, bearing witness for decades beyond my death to the damage done here” (20) But still: the love emerges, painfully, gradually, intimately. (345)

She experiences the landscape in terms of loss and change, rather than idyll and replacement. It is all personal; it is all about developing a way of making meaning that recognizes the singularities of the past and takes responsibility for the future in the midst of intimate devastation. (345)

‘Environmental hubris’—fly fishing, the introduction of non-native fish to the river, changing temperatures of rivers caused by logging and diversion; specific policies, politics, and technologies that have had effects on the rivers, the fish, and the other species throughout the river and the north woods (356)

A refusal to demonize the ‘invasive’ species; Grover herself is ‘invasive’ both culturally and personally (white settlers and big city imports) thus her ethical claim is not for purity but for an active and thoughtful remembering of historical violences in the midst of ongoing necessity of movement and change (346)

Seek relationships with Clear-cuts and landfills in order to bring to the foreground the massive weight of human devastation of the natural world; “a discerning eye can see how unstewarded most of this land has been. The charm lies in finding ways to love with such loss and pull from it what beauties remain” (81) (347)

“she does not romanticize the dying even as she might mourn their loss to the world; instead [through Grover] we witness each loss as particular, irrevocable, and concrete: she is their witness” (347)

Can we learn to see these landscapes as creation as well as destruction?

Rather than mourn the loss of the pristine, she carefully cultivates an attitude of appreciation of what lies before her, beyond the aesthetic wilderness to the intricate details of human interactions with the species and landscapes of the region. In this manner she comes to be able to find the beauty in, for example, landfills and clearcuts; far from naivete or technophilia, this ability is grounded in a commitment to recognizing the simultaneity of death and life in these landscapes, the glut of aspen-loving birds in the clear-cut, the swallows, turkey vultures, and bald eagles near the landfill.

--

It is necessary to face our fear and pain; we have to make room in our relationships with the natural world, queer and otherwise, for the recognition that that is what we might be feeling in the first place (355)

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

Most people are “very” or “extremely” concerned about the state of the natural world, a new global public opinion survey shows. 

Roughly 70 percent of 22,000 people polled online earlier this year agreed that human activities were pushing the Earth past “tipping points,” thresholds beyond which nature cannot recover, like loss of the Amazon rainforest or collapse of the Atlantic Ocean’s currents. The same number of respondents said the world needs to reduce carbon emissions within the next decade. 

Just under 40 percent of respondents said technological advances can solve environmental challenges. 

The Global Commons survey, conducted for two collectives of “economic thinkers” and scientists known as Earth4All and the Global Commons Alliance, polled people across 22 countries, including low-, middle- and high-income nations. The survey’s stated aim was to assess public opinion about “societal transformations” and “planetary stewardship.”

The results, released Thursday, highlight that people living under diverse circumstances seem to share worries about the health of ecosystems and the environmental problems future generations will inherit. 

But there were some regional differences. People living in emerging economies, including Kenya and India, perceived themselves to be more exposed to environmental and climate shocks, like drought, flooding and extreme weather. That group expressed higher levels of concern about the environment, though 59 percent of all respondents said they are “very” or “extremely” worried about “the state of nature today,” and another 29 percent are at least somewhat concerned.  

Americans are included in the global majority, but a more complex picture emerged in the details of the survey, conducted by Ipsos.

Roughly one in two Americans said they are not very or not at all exposed to environmental and climate change risks. Those perceptions contrast sharply with empirical evidence showing that climate change is having an impact in nearly every corner of the United States. A warming planet has intensified hurricanes battering coasts, droughts striking middle American farms and wildfires threatening homes and air quality across the country. And climate shocks are driving up prices of some food, like chocolate and olive oil, and consumer goods. 

Americans also largely believe they do not bear responsibility for global environmental problems. Only about 15 percent of U.S. respondents said that high- and middle-income Americans share responsibility for climate change and natural destruction. Instead, they attribute the most blame to businesses and governments of wealthy countries. 

Those survey responses suggest that at least half of Americans may not feel they have any skin in the game when it comes to addressing global environmental problems, according to Geoff Dabelko, a professor at Ohio University and expert in environmental policy and security. 

Translating concern about the environment to actual change requires people to believe they have something at stake, Dabelko said. “It’s troubling that Americans aren’t making that connection.”

[wikipediapictures]

Sand theft

[raffaellopalandri]

What I Could Do Less Of: A Philosophical and Sociological Reflection

Daily writing promptWhat could you do less of?View all responses We, unfortunately, live in a society, at least in Western countries, where demands for attention, resources, and energy seem infinite, one of the most profound questions we can ask ourselves is, What could I do less of? Photo by Prateek Katyal on Pexels.com Superficially, this question might evoke trivial answers: fewer…

[theadaptableeducator]

Shadows of Empire: The Jungian Unconscious Behind Colonialism, Nationalism, Imperialism, and Capitalism

Carl Jung’s philosophy, particularly his ideas on the collective unconscious and archetypes, offers a unique lens through which to analyze the interconnectivity and unsustainability of colonialism, nationalism, imperialism, and capitalism. Jung’s understanding of the human psyche can illuminate the deep-seated psychological underpinnings that drive these social and political phenomena, as well as…

[short-wooloo]

In retrospect, it was a bad sign that on election day in Ohio the temperature hit a high of 80 degrees

[seawallblvd]

Listen/purchase: REREX 1 by James Ferraro

[indizombie]

Waghmore says the heightened sense of privileged individualism—where the rich have the means to fend for themselves—“has the worst consequences in poor countries, where governments are yet to invest morally and economically in public infrastructure and transport to counter environmental degradation.” K, who regularly treats those suffering from India’s air pollution inequality, puts it more succinctly. “I don’t think people should live with this,” she say, adding that everyone needs to take demand solutions. “If you don’t get something as basic as fresh air, then what’s the point of living in our country?”

Akanksha Singh, ‘The Alarming Rise of India’s Pay-to-Breathe Industry’, Wired

[3daqua]

Effects of Air Pollution on the Taj Mahal: A Monument in Peril

The Taj Mahal, often celebrated for its stunning beauty, has suffered dramatically from the effects of air pollution over the years. Once a shimmering white monument, it now bears the marks of environmental degradation, resulting in a yellowish-brown film that obscures its grandeur day and night. This decline is primarily due to pollution from industrial activities and the increasing vehicle…

[mysterioushimachal]

Impact of Hydro Projects on Kinnaur: Landslides, Floods, and the Unstable Mountains of Nigulseri

[momiji-kitsune]

[Image Description: There are nine images being described. The images describe different crisis' the Congo is facing at the hands of three trillion-dollar corporations (Apple, Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Microsoft) and two billion-dollar corporation (Tesla and Dell Technologies). The resulting ID is long, and thus has been placed behind the 'Keep reading' link.

The first image contains two pictures, one at the top of the image and the other at the bottom, with black text on a white background in the middle. The top picture is of the Congo Rainforest and Basin, a vibrant green rainforest with a winding brown river cutting through the middle of the picture from top to bottom. The bottom picture is of a mining expedition in the Congo. A large Hydraulic Mining Shovel is in the foreground of the picture and a comparatively tiny human stands beside it on the right side of the picture. The background of the picture is brown, dug-up dirt and the wall of dirt behind the Hydraulic Mining Shovel and human extends past the top of the picture. They are far below surface level. The text in the middle is titled "Congo v. Apple, Tesla, Google, Microsoft, and Dell. Congo involves each and every one of us." and contains a quote from Friends of the Congo which reads: "The main request from local Congolese leaders is for others around the globe to build solidarity to help amplify their voices and build relationships with other justice advocates (climate, Indigenous, youth, human rights, artists and musicians)."

The second image uses the same format as the prior image, with two pictures and a section of text in the middle. The top picture is of the outside of an Apple store, with the Apple logo shown clearly in the centre of the image. The bottom picture is of underage children mining cobalt. There is a young boy in the foreground, wearing only shorts and covered in dust, crouched and holding a small hammer. There are four other people in the background of indeterminate age. The text in the middle is titled "Child Labour" and reads: Cobalt exploitation in Congo starkly reflects the neocolonial underpinnings of our global economic system, as multinational corporations, driven by profits and greed, exploit vulnerable communities, forcing children into hazardous mining labour, perpetuating an unjust cycle of oppression (Amnesty International, 2016).

The third image uses the same format as the prior image, with two pictures and a section of text in the middle. The top picture is of the outside of a Google store, with the logo and brand name clearly shown. The bottom picture is of a young woman in a field of dirt mounds. She is in the foreground of the picture, and is bent over and holding a cardboard box with fabric lining the bottom in one of her hands while the other holds a small child to her chest. There is a young man present in the background, on the right side of the picture. The text in the middle is titled "Women's Rights" and reads: Within the cobalt mining landscape, women bear the brunt of an inherently unequal system, where their rights are trampled upon amidst a backdrop of corporate greed and capitalist structure that systemically marginalizes and subjects them to gender-based violence (Human Rights Watch, 2019).

The fourth image uses the same format as the prior image, with two pictures and a section of text in the middle. The top picture is of the outside of a Tesla store, with the logo clearly shown in the middle of the picture. The bottom picture is of a large group of displaced Congolese people. They are moving in three lines and are transporting essential items such as bedding. The text in the middle is titled "Genocide and War" and reads: The intertwining of cobalt extraction with conflict financing exposes the dark underbelly of a capitalist world order, where profit motives often fuel violence and geopolitical instability, revealing the neocolonial legacy that continues to haunt the affected regions (Global Witness, 2016).

The fifth image uses the same format as the prior image, with two pictures and a section of text in the middle. The top image is of the inside of a Dell Technologies store, with the Dell Technologies logo and brand name shown clearly alongside 23 display computers. The bottom picture is of 24 Congolese people standing in the foreground of the image. Behind them are numerous white tents that extend past the top of the image. The text in the middle is titled "Land Dispossession" and reads: Cobalt mining, echoing historical patterns of colonial resource exploitation, strips local communities of their land rights, casting a shadow on the purported ideals of self-determination while reinforcing a neocolonial dynamic that perpetuates land dispossession (International Labour Organization, 2020).

The sixth image uses the same format as the prior image, with two pictures and a section of text in the middle. The top image is of the outside of a Microsoft store, with the Microsoft logo and brand name clearly shown on the left and right of the image. The second image is of a dirt valley, which is likely an old cobalt mine, with numerous people in the middle. There is no vegetation to be seen and countless sandbags piled on top of each other to decrease land degradation. The text in the middle is titled "Environmental Degradation" and reads: The environmental degradation resulting from cobalt exploitation serves as a poignant metaphor for the ecological costs paid by marginalized nations to fuel the insatiable machinery of capitalist consumption, underscoring the urgent need for a more sustainable and just economic paradigm (United Nations Environment Programme, 2017).

The seventh image contains five graphs and is aptly titled "Big Tech Profits Off Atrocities". Each graph shows the revenue of the five companies (In order of graph appearance: Google, Microsoft, Dell, Tesla, and Apple). The first graph is titled "Revenue of Google from 1st quarter 2008 to 3rd quarter 2023 (in million U.S. dollars)". The most recent data point plotted is from the 1st quarter of 2023, which rests just under 80,000 million U.S. dollars. The second graph is titled "Microsoft's net income from 2002 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)". The most recent data point plotted is from 2023, which rests at 72.36 billion U.S. dollars. The third graph is titled "Dell Technologies net revenue worldwide from 1996 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)". The most recent data point plotted is from 2022, which rests at just above 100 billion U.S. dollars. The fourth graph is titled "Tesla's revenue from FY 2008 to FY 2022 (in million U.S. dollars)". The most recent data point plotted is from 2022, which rests at 81,462 million U.S. dollars. The fifth graph is titled "Apple's net income in the company's fiscal years from 2005 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)". The most recent data point plotted is from 2023, which rests at 96.99 billion U.S. dollars.

The eight image contains three paragraphs of white text on a black background, with lines coloured green, red, and blue separating them. The first paragraph reads: We're not buying McDonalds in 2024, or Starbucks or Puma. 🇵🇸 We're not replacing our phones because we feel like it. We're not replacing our laptops because we don't know what else to ask for for Xmas. The second paragraph reads: We're not buying five devices that are identical in every way but size. 🇨🇩 We're not being friends with people who deny that what is happening in Palestine, Sudan or Congo is horrific and has to stop. The third paragraph reads: We're not explaining empathy to Zionists or racists in 2024.

The ninth image contains three rectangular sections: the top section is coloured black, the middle section is coloured green, and the bottom section is coloured red. There is text in each section. The top section's text is written in white. It reads: The UAE are funding crimes against humanity in Sudan, Palestine, Yemen, and Congo. The words "crimes against humanity" are written in red. The middle section's text is written in black and all capitals. It reads: Join us to protest the force that funds these atrocities. The bottom section's text is written in white. It reads: Sunday 14th January 12 noon. London.

/.End ID]

Learn about Congo 🇨🇩 We cannot , after finding out so shamefully late about the genocide, continue as per. We have to change our choices and make the effort to be as ethical as we can and talk about this!

[raffaellopalandri]

Embracing Failure: The Paradox of Success and the Pursuit of Purpose

Daily writing promptWhat’s something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail.View all responses The question of what one would attempt if guaranteed not to fail is, indeed, an intriguing and somewhat paradoxical one. Photo by Brett Jordan on Pexels.com It assumes that success without the possibility of failure is inherently desirable. However, failure is not just an obstacle but…

[theadaptableeducator]

Interconnected Crises: Analyzing Colonialism, Nationalism, Imperialism, and Capitalism through Charles Mills’ Lens and Exploring Sustainable Alternatives

Charles Mills, particularly known for his work “The Racial Contract,” offers a critical perspective on how race and systemic inequalities are embedded within socio-political structures. By drawing on Mills’ philosophies, we can explore the interconnectivity and unsustainability of colonialism, nationalism, imperialism, and capitalism. Interconnectivity Colonialism and Capitalism: Colonialism…

[cyber-soul-smartz]

Navigating the Environmental Wilderness: A Guide to Understanding, Surviving, and Thriving

Navigating the wilderness of environmental degradation fills me with both urgency and hope. It's daunting, but together, we can make a difference. Let's protect our planet for future generations. #ClimateAction #Sustainability #SaveOurPlanet

[immaculatasknight]

The colonial mind