Preface
At least once a year I teach an introductory biology course to students who are not science majors.
During the course we learn about Alabama’s biodiversity, especially why we have it and why it is important. We explore evolution, ecology, and biogeography, but also confront many of our environmental problems, including the extinction crisis, failing ecosystems, and climate change. It’s rough going for several weeks, but the mood picks up near the end of the semester as we explore the many options, we have for building a better world than the one we have now.
For the last day class, I ask students to read a letter I’ve written to them with some final thoughts from me. I also assign several videos or other readings that I’ve gathered that speak to the urgency and potential of this moment in history.
Below is the version of the letter and accompanying assignments from spring 2021. I’ve edited it slightly for this format.
Last Lecture of the Semester
This is my last formal “lecture” to share with you as part of our class. Instead of a recorded video lecture, I’ve simply written below a few things that I want to share.
At the beginning of the semester I shared with you that this class, a class of students compelled to take a science class, it is my favorite class to teach. The reason? You all come from very different personal and academic backgrounds, and I value the perspectives you bring to the class.
I know this course has been tough, but we are at the end now, and you are about to cross the finish line. For many of you, that means you will soon be graduating. Congratulations to you! I wish you all the best. Do great things! Make good choices! You’ll know what to do when you get there. And to all of you, it has been a privilege to be your guide through this exploration. But I’m getting ahead of myself, for we are not quite done…
I have one more lesson to share. In the past weeks we have looked into the eye of the storm that humanity is facing. Overpopulation, pollution, food insecurity, social injustice, biodiversity loss, and climate change. It hurts my heart to bring these topics before you. But these issues have already shaped your lives and who you are. And they will continue to define your future. Given that, I would be negligent to not offer you resources on how to be part of the solution to the critical problems humanity faces.
As the frequent bearer of bad news on the state of the natural world, I often receive a question from students, the public, and even fellow faculty members. “Is there hope?” they ask. It’s often coupled with “Do YOU have hope?” My answer is always a hesitant “yes.” I pause because my hope is not the hope of blind faith. With faith, one knows that something is true, regardless of evidence or circumstance. Instead, I believe in what can be measured, verified, imagined, and built. My version of hope comes from studies of the natural world, human nature, and our history. I know that humanity has the capacity to achieve greatness. We have all that we need to build a very bright and beautiful future. So, when I am asked about my hope, I hesitate not because I don’t believe such a future is possible, but because I don’t know for sure that it is a certainty.
I’m not alone in harboring doubt. Good news is hard to find these days. But we must remember where it is we get our information about the greater world. Mostly we get it through the media. And good news doesn’t get nearly as much attention as does bad news. Any day’s headlines unleash a swarm of problems and rarely share solutions or successes. Psychologically we are primed to listen to these messages. In our evolutionary past, those who ignored warnings of danger didn’t survive long.
I frequently encounter people saying that, with climate change, humanity is facing its own extinction. This is a dramatic statement. Definitely an attention-getter. But this is highly unlikely. In our long history, humanity has survived plagues, climate change, and global wars. Yes, in the past some civilizations have collapsed due in large part to unsustainable environmental practices. And yes, these events were coupled with much misery and disruption. But people survive these catastrophes. We are resilient and adaptable. And we are far too talented at making tools and babies to go extinct anytime soon, even if we unleash the worst that climate change can offer.
True extinction is not an issue. What’s really at stake is whether ours is a future of chaos, catastrophe, struggle, and suffering, or one of security, prosperity, beauty, and celebration. We are currently at a very real fork in the road of possible futures. The only certainty is that things are going to change dramatically during your lives. That much is inevitable.
If we are to choose the brighter path, then we have much work to do. We need to reform how we generate our energy, how we grow our food and make stuff, and how we live with nature and each other. There is much good news on these issues. We know what we need to do, and how it can be done. The natural sciences have provided the technical solutions and more and better solutions are in development. The social sciences have shown time and again what is needed to overcome dissent, conflict, and injustice.
What you don’t see in the headlines, unless you go looking deliberately, is that the transition to a brighter future has already begun. In terms of climate change, cities, states, and entire nations are committing to renewable energy production. Scotland, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua are close to achieving full reliance on renewable energy for electricity production. Many other countries have committed to significant reductions in fossil fuel use over the next 10-25 years. New technologies for creating and storing clean energy are being developed and tested. Here in the US, in 2017, Washington, Oregon, Maine, South Dakota, and Montana all purchased over 30% of their electricity from renewable sources. Just recently, Virginia committed to being 100% carbon emissions free by the year 2045. In 2019, 10 major US cities got over 62% of their electricity from renewable energy sources and Houston has committed to getting all of its electricity for municipal uses from renewable energy. Even major companies are investing in renewable energy, including Facebook, Google, Amazon, Walmart, and McDonald’s. This transformation is occurring not just because it’s good for the planet, but because renewable energy production costs are very inexpensive and edging out energy produced from fossil fuels.
Meanwhile, several countries of the world including Canada and Mexico have placed a tax on carbon emissions as a way to ensure that consumers are paying a more realistic market price for using fossil fuels (the fossil fuel sector produces cheap coal, oil, and gas because of subsidies provided by the world’s governments). The carbon tax is an incentive for reducing use and increasing efficiency, and the revenue is being invested in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Is this enough to keep global warming to below 1.5˚ C, the goal of the Paris Accord? Not yet, but it’s a good start. What’s needed is policy by national and state governments to guide a swifter transition so we can reach the Paris goal of 45% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. What else is needed to get us to where we meet the goals of the Paris Accord? We need you, and me, and as many people as possible engaged on the issue of climate change. Here’s why…
We need policies established that incentivize the transition to a reliance on clean, renewable energy as soon as possible. This must go hand in hand with investments in research and development of new technologies, and transition programs to help workers who have relied on the fossil fuel industry for their livelihoods. Policies like these are critically important to meeting the goals of the Paris Accord — personal actions and lifestyle changes to limit personal carbon emissions will simply not be enough.
Policy is developed by politicians. And in democracies, politicians are informed and elected by the people. If the people don’t demand the climate change policies we need, then we won’t get policies in time to make a difference. This is why what happens at the level of the individual is so important. This is why YOU are so important. It doesn’t matter whether you advocate for left-wing, right-wing, or middle-of-the-aisle policy solutions to climate change. The important thing is that you are advocating for change in the right direction to ensure a secure and prosperous future for us all.
It can be challenging to have hope for a bright future, and even more challenging to know how to help that future become a reality. So, for your final set of readings and videos, I’ve carefully chosen some of the best wisdom of our time on how to face the greatest challenge of our time. Much of what you will hear is not science, it is about what to do with the knowledge that science has provided humanity. I don’t expect or want you to agree with everyone you will hear from in these assignments—that’s not the point. Instead, I do want you to think deeply about their messages. I want you to be challenged by them to consider what your role will be in the future for humanity and for earth. And I genuinely wish that you will find some hope in their messages.
I suggest you do not try to digest all these assignments all at once. That’s not how big ideas should be approached. Instead, listen/read/watch one of the assignments straight through, listening to the speakers at their own pace. Then, listen/read/watch again, this time finding the key points and taking notes to study later. Next, step away from the studying for the class, and take time to reflect. Give these voices time to settle, and give yourself time to decide what parts of their message connect with you, and which do not. These are big ideas, and it takes time to process them.
I found some common themes across these authors/speakers, and I thought I’d share this with you to add to your study guides. Each outlines a process, or a single step, for engagement and action. There seem to be four elements:
- Awareness – becoming aware of the challenge, and how it will affect you and those you care about.
- Attitude – finding the psychological/spiritual strength and energy to face the challenge.
- Action – taking action at the personal and then civic level.
- Imagination – envisioning the future that you want, not just the one you fear.
These are not steps on a list to be checked off. It’s a cycle. Wash, rinse, repeat. And their advice as I’ve organized above, is good for any change of habit or mentality that you want in your life, not just in the context of adjusting your life to climate change.
As you go through this process, a transformation takes place. There is a change in your mindset. Something that was once abstract and distant (like climate change) becomes part of your everyday thinking and action. That transition signifies a mindset change. It’s exactly what has happened to most of us during the pandemic. We’ll never think about hygiene, social gatherings, and the bravery of health care workers the same way, ever again. It’s this sort of comprehensive mindset shift that is needed if humanity is to head in the direction of a bright future where we pursue our full potential. We must do things differently than those who came before us.
You all will soon graduate and spread out through the world, pursuing different career goals and dreams. As a result of this class, BI 101, you know more about the challenges facing humanity than most people you will meet in your lives henceforth. Each of you, no matter your chosen path, has tremendous potential to enact powerful, beautiful, and positive change wherever you go. Please, don’t be shy or scared of using your knowledge and unleashing your potential. The world needs you now more than ever.
Forward Ever.
Selections from the assignment list:
Christiana Figueres – TED Countdown talk. The case for stubborn optimism on climate. (7:56 min). Figueres played the lead role in shaping the Paris Accord. She has much wisdom and experience to share with us, especially her case for optimism.
Tom Rivett-Carnac, TED talk, 22 April 2020. How to shift your mindset and choose your future. (15:46 min) Rivett-Carnac also played a role in crafting the Paris Accord. He speaks to us in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic about how to face the daunting issue of climate change with stubborn optimism.
Xiye Bastida TED Talk, July 2020, “If You Adults Won’t Save the World, We Will.” (8:09 min) Hear from one of the nation’s and world’s foremost youth climate leaders, who also is a leading voice for indigenous and immigrant visibility in climate activism.
Collette Pinchon Battle: Climate Change will Displace Millions. Here’s how we prepare; (12:38 min) Battle is from a frontline community in Louisiana threatened by sea level rise. She is a lawyer and activist who urges us to rebuild the economic and social systems that have altered our climate and are putting hundreds of millions of people in danger of coastal flooding. She is a powerful and inspirational advocate for resilience and community action.
Kate Raworth. TED 2018 (15:46 min) A healthy economy should be designed to thrive, not grow. Raworth is an economist who helps us understand why the economic models that the developed world has embraced for decades are deeply flawed and leading us towards calamity. She offers a vision of how to design a sustainable economy, which puts human well-being as its top priority.
Sir David Attenborough: How to Save the Planet. (8:26 min) Famed British explorer and producer of nature documentaries, Attenborough has a message of how we can—and must–save biodiversity to save ourselves.