Environment Changes & Human Rights

Is living your chosen way of life a basic human right? It seems obvious enough, especially if your way of life is older than most. It seems that the Inuit are planning to cast human-induced climate change as a violation of their basic human rights. It’s about time!

Environmental change will affect all of us, almost certainly in mostly negative ways. Those who live at the extremes are merely the first to feel the affects of our wilfull consumption of the entire world. Hopefully they can hit some of the big corporate polluters in their share price. Maybe they can even win a billion-dollar lawsuit against our nation, which blatantly disregards global climate treaties.

In the end, though, the entire American way of life needs to morph if we are to avoid a total catastrophic change. I just finished reading Stuff - The Secret Lives of Everyday Things, and so I am accutely aware of the environmental impact of the simple cup of espresso I am sipping. I feel permitted, though, since I own no cars.