Energy, Environment and Society

Starting off, I will be completely honest and admit that I enrolled in this course because I needed another experience for the honors program, and I thought that this class was the most interesting option out of all the seminars available to me. Right from our first discussion, however, I could tell that I was going to get much more out of this class than I had originally anticipated. 

 

Coming into this semester, I admittedly had not spent all too much time thinking about environmental issues or researching the state of our world when it comes to emissions and energy consumption. I have known that climate change is a serious issue and a lot of it is related to our levels of emissions, but that was honestly the furthest that my knowledge on it went. This class taught me how truly complex and multi-faceted the issue of energy and climate is, and how coming up with a solution to our crisis requires us to look at so many varying perspectives, sectors, and industries in order to come up with something that can please the most people and result in the most change for the better. It encouraged me to look at my own life and choices and think about how I can watch my own energy consumption. It also provided me with the knowledge I would need to engage in discussions with others about the climate and how we all can work towards making a better future for our world.

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In a political climate and society as complex and diverse as the one we live in, this idea of coming together and unifying under a big cause to help alleviate climate change almost seems impossible. And maybe it is impossible, but this class helped me to realize how much opinions can be changed and people can be educated, because I myself experienced that many times throughout each of the modules we covered. All of us can do our part to help educate those around us, and hopefully we can get to where we need to be before it is too late.

 

As I mentioned previously, I never really thought much about the environmental issues we faced before taking this class. I now have a greater understanding of how I contribute to emissions and how our world is impacted by them. I can have educated discussions with others about the different causes and effects of emissions and how all of it ties in with our energy usage as a community. I have already talked to a lot of my friends and peers about energy on Cincinnati’s campus, and I can do my part to help educate my peers by discussing these things with them and urging them to look at the bigger picture. While each of us can only do so much as individuals, working together as a collective is how we will achieve the goals that we have set for the planet. 

 

Overall, I am really grateful for the learning opportunities that this class provided me with, and I am glad that I was able to expand my worldview and grow as a global citizen scholar. I had a great semester discussing and interacting with everyone, and I am thankful for the new perspectives that I was able to gain in this course!