Earth Day in crisis - the political divide of our planet

Seamus O'Sullivan - Staff Writer

Professor Mike Nelson capped off the Great Decisions series on Earth Day, delivering a presentation and leading a discussion on the growing threat of climate change. Speaking candidly about both political and personal responsibility, Nelson emphasized that urgent change is needed to avoid devastating long-term consequences.

"Right now, in the United States, it would take a regime change," Nelson said, when asked what it would take for policymakers to take climate action seriously. "The current administration has no interest in doing anything about this."

Even when more environmentally focused leaders are in office, Nelson explained, the challenge remains significant. The long-term nature of climate policies often clashes with short-term political cycles. "If I'm a politician, I'm going to get re-elected in four years, but the benefit for this policy I put in place is eight, ten years down the road," he said. "It's hard to really convince voters that I did something for them."

While acknowledging that the Democratic Party historically has shown more concern for climate issues, Nelson argued they fall short too. He praised the Biden administration’s efforts to integrate environmental priorities into multiple areas of government including defense, commerce, and foreign policy. Although, climate change still needs more action among the many issues competing for attention.

Nelson stressed that individual and collective action aren’t mutually exclusive. "If you do all those Rs—reduce, reuse, recycle—corporations will have to adjust what they do," he said. He encouraged the audience to consider their consumption habits. Simple decisions like delaying purchases of new technology or cars signal a shift in demand, forcing companies to change.

Beyond policy and personal choices, Nelson warned of emotional and societal impacts unchecked climate change could bring. "There's a lot of loss associated with that, that I think we don't understand and comprehend yet," he said. He reflected on the possibility future generations will grow up without snowy winters, or even the existence of Winter Olympics.

Nelson left students with a sobering reminder: climate change isn’t a distant threat, it’s happening now.

"We might just get used to change and accept that that's where things are going," he said. "But at some point, if those scenarios are right, the consequences of those changes are going to be dire enough that we'll have fewer resources with still a lot of people."