Why the environmental crisis is a human rights issue.

Each individual, no matter their education, race, gender, ability, drive, or mental health, deserves to have access to shelter, food, clean water, energy, and sanitation – these are fundamental human rights. Yet somehow this is seemingly up for debate as evidenced by policymaking that clings to the lobbying initiatives set out by Wall Street and supports the irresponsible, unsustainable, and inhumane practices of multinational corporations. To blame shift, political rhetoric continues to spew the myth of meritocracy (i.e., if someone works hard enough, they can create a better life for themselves), which has been proven to be a fallacy time and time again. As Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs tells us, we must have basic needs fulfilled in order to pursue other aspirations. Seemingly, in both the Global North and Global South, the provision of these rights is not a priority, especially for people of color and low socioeconomic status. To see this in the US, one can look no further than the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, the lack of funding to rebuild Puerto Rico after the devastating effects of Hurricane , and ‘Cancer Alley’, a largely African-American area in Louisiana with high cancer rates due to proximity to petrochemical plants. While globally, 880 million people don’t have regular access to clean water, and 2.7 billion are without adequate sanitation. Perhaps I’m naïve, I must be, but I constantly question how these ‘decision-makers’ sleep at night. I live in Washington D.C., where homeless individuals live in tent cities just a few blocks from the Capital and the White House. Surely, these policymakers have seen what I’ve seen while driving by in their massive SUVs– individuals for which the system did not work – individuals who, no matter their history, deserve a roof over their head. Yet, on top of this inequitable dispersal of goods and services, we have another problem – climate change. According to the UN Human Rights Council, human beings should have access to ‘a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment’. In an era of plastic pollution, droughts, flooding, large storm events, air pollution, water depletion, and so on, this is seemingly a dream.

We need to be honest - we’ve dug a very deep hole. What is clear is that we must fight and fight hard. We need an overhaul of our system that will address how we produce, consume, define success, and view each other, ourselves, and our governing bodies. Undoubtedly, just as our ancestors did, we must take resources from our environment for survival. While our population is growing quickly and, irresponsibly so, scientists predict that there is enough to go around if we drastically alter our livelihoods. As Gandhi told us, ‘the world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed’. In my opinion, it is incontrovertible that people who have ‘enjoyed’ high carbon lifestyles need to take responsibility and take the lead. The only reason we have developed lifestyles that more than meet our basic needs is because we have taken more than our fair share. Let’s start getting real about what needs to change and how this change must happen. In my opinion, it is a snowball effect. We must act small, but always have the big picture in mind. We need a systemic overhaul. We need a Green New Deal-esque plan that will get at the failures of our economic system. Enough with the Band-Aids. This problem won’t heal on it’s own. Yes, we must make the changes in our daily lives – we must speak with our dollars to tell corporations what we stand for. At the same time, we can and should place blame on governments and corporations, who have decided what products and lifestyles to sell.

I will end on one final point to consider from my PhD thesis: Supported by the Industrial Revolution, the American dream mentality that touted individualism and the continued need for hard work resulted in booming markets and a surplus of goods in the late 19th and early 20th century. For fear of decoupling workers from their work, instead of decreasing production, the working class was encouraged to become consumers. Simon Patten, chair of Wharton School of Business, in 1899 declared that the country had entered a ‘new order of consumption’. The concern with satisfying basic human needs, for many, had passed, igniting a shift in America‘s consumptive tendencies. However, consuming was not natural to many; thus corporate marketing campaigns were established to persuade working Americans.