ISSUE № 4, JULY 2017
6
The Social Construct of Environmental Issues
Nature has given us all that we know: from the very houses we live in to the cell phones and
clothes we wear. It is implicit in our very existence and in interacting there are always conse-
quences. Our actions become problematic when we negatively affect the environment (our for-
ests, oceans, and atmosphere). As humans and as the dominant species on this planet, interaction with the envi-
ronment is needed to survive. The need is for satisfaction of consumption via the manipulation of raw materials
and the environment to sustain and satisfying our growing and constantly changing wants. It is a never ending
cycle of extracting natural resources to construct all these things needed to “survive”, despite all else who relies
on nature to survive. The contradiction manifest itself when views differ perhaps in thinking that use of fossil fuels as the major issue but
yet when countries look inwards the issue is dwarfed by other immediate issues such as dealing with crime and poverty and distribution
of wealth and health care and another longer list of woes. Perspective then becomes influential in how bigger environmental problems
can be prioritized for redress.
These varying social constructs of what is important leaves us in a place where there is only expensive summits and conversations occur-
ring as to what damages the dominant species is bringing to bear on the environment. The question now becomes, when will we cross
that point of no return and what will become of our future generations when nature can no longer support our indiscretions on the envi-
ronment? Global warming as an example brings with it secondary effects such as flooding, heat waves, rising water levels, destruction of
food resources, lack of access to clean drinking water, destruction of homes and fatalities if we are willing to admit it. With so many
contributed knowledge and opinions to alter the course, will we soon see the change that sets us back on the righteous path of having a
sustainable finite environment?
A notable Bolivian environmental scientist has long since proposed a policy nicknamed the “Marshall Plan for Earth” but implementa-
tion of it will prove most inconvenient to the world of Mega Business and by extension Government intervention; which in itself sounds
strange in typing and is another discussion on who is the cart and who is the horse. The reality then is that profit and mass production
does take precedence at the expense of our environment. Habits which continues to lead to our usage of harmful gases and oils to the en-
vironment and our carving of natural resources in order for infrastructure and “development” to occur. This is a pattern that we have
brought on our selves for many decades, though we have recently seen the effects. But at least no one can plead ignorance as our envi-
ronmental problems expand. Nathaniel Luke
Works Cited: Parenti, C. (2011). Tropic of Chaos. New York: Nation Books. Rob-
bins, P., Hintz, J., & Moore, S. (2010). Environment and Society: A Critical Introduction
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