We'Re Hot as Hell - Summary of Bill Mckibben's Article "The Environmental Issue from Hell"
We’re Hot as Hell
Is global warming a moral dilemma? Is it the public policy problem from hell? In "The Environmental Issue from Hell," Bill McKibben uses many of such phrases en route to arguing for a new approach to global warming. By discussing hell and morals, the reader’s mind is already equating it with two heavily debated issues. Therefore, we begin to question their existence and how we should deal with the subjects. McKibben wisely chooses these disputes to represent his main concerns: the ways in which consumerism affects the global ecosystem, and the impact of humans on the environment. McKibben presents a solution on how to handle each of these environmental issues, utilizing both the people and the government.
McKibben's point of how consumerism affects the global ecosystem is certainly relatable. With all the new technology forming, global warming has only increased, despite the many efforts to make everything more energy efficient. McKibben points out that, "most of us live lives so divorced from the natural world that we hardly notice the changes anyway." (McKibben 747) Choosing the word divorce (which everyone has heard and in some way or another experienced), and also elaborating about parking garages and air conditioning captivates the reader. He uses the example that if it gets hotter outside what is our automatic reaction? We turn the AC up without contemplation. He explains that these new technologies are not letting us feel the consequences of global warming, causing us to be completely ignorant of it. Mckibben feels it is subsequently important to make people realize now because, "By the time the magnitude of the change is truly in our faces, it will be too late to do much about it."(747). The author recognizes the delay between the actions we take to lower carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the actual results of it lowering. Due to the outcomes, Mckibben expresses, “…we need to be making the switch to solar and wind and hydrogen
Is global warming a moral dilemma? Is it the public policy problem from hell? In "The Environmental Issue from Hell," Bill McKibben uses many of such phrases en route to arguing for a new approach to global warming. By discussing hell and morals, the reader’s mind is already equating it with two heavily debated issues. Therefore, we begin to question their existence and how we should deal with the subjects. McKibben wisely chooses these disputes to represent his main concerns: the ways in which consumerism affects the global ecosystem, and the impact of humans on the environment. McKibben presents a solution on how to handle each of these environmental issues, utilizing both the people and the government.
McKibben's point of how consumerism affects the global ecosystem is certainly relatable. With all the new technology forming, global warming has only increased, despite the many efforts to make everything more energy efficient. McKibben points out that, "most of us live lives so divorced from the natural world that we hardly notice the changes anyway." (McKibben 747) Choosing the word divorce (which everyone has heard and in some way or another experienced), and also elaborating about parking garages and air conditioning captivates the reader. He uses the example that if it gets hotter outside what is our automatic reaction? We turn the AC up without contemplation. He explains that these new technologies are not letting us feel the consequences of global warming, causing us to be completely ignorant of it. Mckibben feels it is subsequently important to make people realize now because, "By the time the magnitude of the change is truly in our faces, it will be too late to do much about it."(747). The author recognizes the delay between the actions we take to lower carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the actual results of it lowering. Due to the outcomes, Mckibben expresses, “…we need to be making the switch to solar and wind and hydrogen
Cited: Mckibben, Bill. “The Environmental Issue from Hell.” The Mcgraw-Hill Reader. Ed. Gilbert Muller. 11th ed. Boston: Learning Solutions. 2011. 746-49. Print.