By Clair Bullock, law ’18, environment and natural resources ’14 and ’21
What do I want Earth Day to look like in 2070?
That’s really a difficult question.
I grew up in a big family where everyone was a steward of the environment in some way, and it worked its way down to me, as the youngest. I got really active in high school as the president of the "bio eco" club, implementing composting and water bottle drives, etc. I went to a very diverse high school, and it was really inspiring to be a part of connecting people of all backgrounds to each other and the environment through that organization.
As a Ph.D. student now, my research focuses on the interaction between toxic environmental exposures (i.e., lead) and neurological/behavioral development. I work at the Ohio Public Defender's Office and see a lot of clients who grew up in very polluted areas. Studies have shown toxic exposure can lead to neurological deficits, so I want to see how long-term environmental toxic exposure might be shaping individual outcomes and leading to potential involvement in the criminal justice system.
It is through that lens that I look 50 years from now to 2070, the 100th anniversary of Earth Day.
In her New York Times column “How to stop freaking out and tackle climate change,” Emma Marris, a nonfiction writer who focuses on the environment, tells us to “know what you’re fighting for,” or to be able to envision the world we want to create.
She writes: “Imagine dense but livable cities veined with public transit and leafy parks, infrastructure humming away to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, fake meat that tastes better than the real thing, species recovering and rewilding the world, the rivers silver with fish, the skies musical with flocking birds.
“This is a future where the economic inequality, racism and colonialism that made decades of inaction on climate change possible has been acknowledged and is being addressed. It is a time of healing. Many ecosystems have changed, but natural resilience and thoughtful human assistance is preventing most species from going extinct.”
This description really hits the nail on the head for me. I’m sold — that’s the world I want to see in 2070: Our natural systems are thriving, and we are addressing systemic forms of oppression — racism, colonialism, inequality — that have created the environmental problems we see today.
How do we get to this point? I think we have to learn lessons from past. At the first Earth Day in 1970, government regulation, social movements and scientific research formed the backbone of the environmental movement, and I see them very much relevant to our environmental system today.
In law school I learned that government intervention through law and policy is a very effective tool for lasting change. Our system is better when we have laws in place that have been advocated for and that are enforced, with people safeguarding that system. And it’s perhaps at its best when these laws are constantly informed by the best available science. Just as “Silent Spring” author Rachel Carson’s scientific findings led to regulation of DDT around the time of the first Earth Day, we must continue to make this a priority.
Aside from these three staples, a few other things are necessary to my 2070 vision.
• A more global emphasis. In my vision we are back in the Paris Agreement, prioritizing international climate cooperation and being held accountable by our global partners to meet our climate goals.
• Leaders in a just transition. We know that developing countries who contribute least to the climate crisis are hit the hardest by the impacts. Climate projections show some countries will be under water while others will be drought stricken, and their citizens will be forced climate refugees. I think we need to continue to acknowledge this reality in our efforts — what's our contribution and what's our responsibility as the United States?
• Environmental justice on a local scale. Just as the poorest nations are impacted most by climate change, low income people of color are impacted the most from environmental harms in our own backyards.
• A more comprehensive conceptualization of what the “environment” is and what it means to protect it. We can’t separate the environment from the people in it; so yes, a healthy environment means things like greenspace and cleaner air, but it also means healthy, vibrant communities that meet people’s basic needs — food security, universal basic income, quality standard of living, etc. This is all environmental!
Climate change is impacting people’s livelihoods more than ever, and it touches everyone in one way or another. The key to momentum toward my vision for Earth Day 2070 is to personalize it. Finding ways to work passion for the environment into your project — whatever that is — is important.
For example, when I interviewed for my position at the Ohio Public Defender’s Office, they thought it was strange that my resume was all environment and I was applying for a job in the criminal justice system. So, half of my interview was talking about how environmental issues are baked into the work we do. I think that’s true for everyone; we just have to be intentional about making the connection.
Conceptualizing the world we want to live in is very important, especially in the context of how easy it is to be discouraged. There was a different energy in 1970; people were fired up but hopeful. The state of our Earth is a bit different now. We are reading articles about “environmental grief” and trauma associated with a declining environment. This is hard stuff!
The most important thing we can do is remember the vision of the perfect system we want. We get to 2070 by visualizing and materializing that system.
Clair Bullock received her Ohio State environmental and natural resources undergraduate degree in 2014 and law degree in 2018 and is a doctoral student in the School of Environment and Natural Resources. Her guest column here is adapted from comments she gave in February at the Environmental Film Series hosted by the school and Ohio State’s Sustainability Institute. Her doctoral research, on environmental justice, will shed light on the effects/outcomes of disproportionate exposure to toxicants. Her faculty advisor is Kerry Ard, a Sustainability Institute affiliated faculty member in the School of Environment and Natural Resources.