TakingITGlobal

inequality, profit accumulation, and growth imperative integral to the structure of capitalism as the root problem (Moore, 2016; Haraway, 2015; Angus, 2016). First world countries tend to be more capitalistic and are willing to do whatever to seek profit even if it means harming the environment. Although Canada has laws to protect the environment, the rate at which we use these resources are greater than the rate that it takes for it to be replenished… ( E D M O N T O N , B L O G 2 A ) When people want to buy something, they only ask ONE question for themselves. How much does it cost? They should also ask other questions. ( L I M A , B L O G 2 A ) One team member mentioned the intentional spread of misinformation, referencing the interconnections between media, fossil-fuel industries, and public opinion identified by Naomi Oreskes in the movie, based on the 2011 book, Merchants of Doubt: In this movie [Merchants of Doubt] they explain the propaganda industry... the tobacco industry, they had all these problems about tobacco causing cancer and they were paying people to say, "oh we don't know if tobacco causes cancer." Seeding doubts, they didn't say anything was wrong, they said "we don't have enough information about tobacco causing cancer," even though 40 years ago these industries knew tobacco causes cancer, but they didn't want to stop selling their products... same about climate change, many people, especially in oil, were paying and being paid to say "climate change, yea, we don't know if that's really happening." ( S Ã O P A U L O , I N T E R V I E W ) However, most team members resisted pointing fingers at people or organizations. Instead, they returned to an emphasis on individuals as the primary cause of climate change, expressed in their White Paper. Climate change problems did not start with the large corporations of the world and national governments. Climate change started with people whose daily choices fed their power, production, and their popularity. ( W H I T E P A P E R , P P . 2 ) Despite our observations of the students' limited capacity to acknowledge structural power, we were struck by the adamant refusal to give up their own agency despite awareness, often from experience, that not all governments or corporations are open to critique and complaint from citizens. We thus see a disconnect between the students' desire and willingness to act and the organized forms of action that would address the structural issues they identify as causes of climate change. 50 | F I N D I N G S

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