The End

I came into this course with certain preconceived notions of environmentalists and their movement. Because of the militant, aggressive attitude that I had previously encountered with environmentalists, I was quite apprehensive about the class and any discussions that would take place. Any support I have for the environmental movement has been eaten away by the condescending treatment by the movement’s supporters – often, they do more harm to their movement than they know. However, contrary to my low expectations at the beginning of the semester, I ended up really enjoying the class. Despite being in the minority for most discussions (with my decidedly market liberal approach in a fairly social green class), I did not feel completely ostracized by the professor or the class as in previous cases. Rather, I felt that my points were acknowledged, and sometimes, even taken into consideration in their search for environmental solutions. Because of this attitude shift, I actually enjoyed learning about the environment and started to care more about finding a solution for the problems that it faces. The class showed me that there are more problems than just climate change, and that there have been successes in the past – so we should have hope for the future, if we can continue the efforts of environmentalists before us. In the end, I will take away a better understanding of the current environmental situation and the different environmental camps that are all lobbying for separate solutions to these problems. Also, and what I think might be more important, is that I will be taking away a kinder outlook on environmentalists and the movement as whole. As we learned in class, meaningful change stems from a fundamental shift in attitudes, so this class was a turning point for my relationship with environmentalism. I enjoyed my time in the class, and learned a lot that I can take with me into my future.