Over the years, human existence has led to major environmental changes. Recently, human activities have led to an increase in climatic changes. These climatic changes threaten human life as they include global warming, the rise of the sea level, rising flood waters, and melting ice caps, among other indicators. These changes have been brought about by rapid industrialization, especially in the fossil fuel industry (Cassegard). The demand for fossil fuels has led to vigorous exploitation of the earth's resources. This has led to the extinction of plant and animal species and the destruction of human residences. However, the changes to the environment have not all been bad. New technologies in communication, transport, healthcare, and education have made the world better than it was two centuries ago. Naomi Klein, in her book "This changes everything," sheds light on capitalist extraction activities and their effect. I agree with Klein that divesting large fossil fuel corporations to reinvest in renewable sources of energy is the best way to tackle climate change and its effects.
Renewable sources of energy such as wind energy, solar energy, water, and electricity will assist in combatting the effects of carbon energy. These sources will help ease the pressure on carbon pools and reduce the number of harmful emissions into the atmosphere. According to Le 2 Klein, "Renewables demand that we adapt ourselves to the rhythm of natural systems as opposed to bending those systems to our will and brute force engineering" (Klein, 394). Resistance to harmful sources of energy is the first step towards shifting energy production from carbon sources; for example, in Denmark and Germany, resistance to nuclear energy created thriving pursuit of renewable energy. Germany passed a feed-in tariff to promote roof-top solar energy production. This indicates that the state should lead by taking steps toward climatic changes.
The use of renewable energy must be supported by a firm nationwide plan that uses the profits from fossil fuel companies to support the movement towards safer sources of energy. Klein defines the divestment process as "asking institutions to reinvest that money in entities that have a clear vision for the healing process" (Klein, 401).
Poor communities are often obligated to support extraction activities in order to create more jobs and development funds. Naomi points out that most people who live in areas that are planned out for extraction activities are poor. They lack the monetary and political power to protest the activities of capitalist fossil fuel companies. As a result, the fossil companies use these needs as a bargaining chip to make them sell their rights to the land (Connor, 2009). These communities lack necessities such as access to water, electricity, and sewage. A company offering these services in exchange for extraction rights is a privilege hard to pass up (Andrew, 811). To addr...
