Worth the Time

By Bergin Parks on 09/20/2011 @ 06:45 PM

Tags: Environment, Quakerism

Before I relocated to Washington, D.C. to work with FCNL on energy and environmental issues I was asked, “Do you really feel like that will be a good use of your time?” I stammered, and by virtue of the fact that I could not condense what I wanted to say, I remained polite. I resented the disregard for the subtopics underlying the question, both foreign and domestic. However, the query provides the opportunity to articulate my beliefs and why they are relevant in the broader context of my goals for involvement with FCNL.

Because fossil fuels were being discussed with respect to climate change, I should have referred my questioner to a quote in section 3 of our policy statement. “We believe that the right use and sharing of the world’s resources for energy are crucial to human survival and welfare.” This assertion pretty well sums up my concerns, and would have made clear to the questioner why energy issues have profound affects on everyone’s life and well-being, including his. Continuing to promote and develop a fossil fuel-dependent energy infrastructure is a shameful mis-allocation of time and resources. Questioning the validity of these concerns or worse, ignoring the inherent flaws and abusive demands of fossil fuel dependency is negligent, allowing associated issues not only to persist, but to worsen. A cleaner and more dependable energy future will only come to fruition through advocating change.

In the currently polarized state of American politics, rational discussion of substantive issues like climate change, energy use and energy security have been reduced to mud-slinging and posturing. Rather than approaching problems head-on to identify timely solutions for the good of their respective constituents, the bulk of our elected officials choose instead to tell the American public what their opponents are not doing about problems. Climate change and associated issues are so immediate and the implications so far reaching that the blame game stopped being acceptable a long time ago. Even less impressive is a willful disregard for such issues, both on the part of private citizens, and particularly those elected to represent them.

If I had the opportunity to answer that same question, I would reply with a resounding “yes,” and I would do so without hesitation. I would point out the fact that a concern for my own well-being is only natural, and that it is inextricably related to the well-being of other human beings and the planet that we inhabit. Advocating change in an area I believe to be both unjust and a continual instigator of global scale problems is certainly a good use of my time.