Dear Denise,
On January 25th I spoke with you about your outlook on our environmental future. To reiterate, your view was pessimistic, as you stated environmental problems are being passed down to the next generation, rather than being solved. Additionally, you stated that your top three environmental concerns were: littering, agricultural practices, and waste. You mentioned that your religion is a substantial factor in crafting your environmental outlook. You stated that you treat your religion as your compass to guide how you should live your life, and it is therefore a factor in your outlook on all parts of life. However, because religion is considered irrelevant in environmental debate, you often feel frustrated and excluded from the conversation. Furthermore, you explained that the political nature of environmental discussion often leads to polarized views, and the neglect of those whose stance is between. Finally, you mentioned a human disconnect from nature, and a special interest in human nutrition, both which play into your outlook.
Overall, your pessimistic view is shared by 43% of the sample, while 38% had optimistic views, predicting that the environmental future would be better than the present. The role of religion in your outlook made you a minority in the study, as only 16% of the people in the study shared this with you. Among fellow conservatives, your views resided with 23% of the interviewees. Among your age group (51-60) 36% and of those who completed college only 14%.
What is most appealing to me, is how religion, across the board did not see to impact peoples outlooks, as it had shaped yours. As aforementioned, in many environmental debates religious input in considered irrelevant. In my opinion, this may be why many people don’t allow religion to impact their outlook. It is possible that people have learned to separate their environmental view from their religious view because, as you mentioned, the media tends to bash religious input. Additionally, I would have predicted that a large percentage of conservatives would consider religion to be a part of their outlook. This assumption is rooted the way the media portrays conservatives on issues that are often associated with religion (gay marriage, abortion, etc.) The data, however, contradicts this.
Thank you for your time,
Katie Wiseheart
Dear Maren,
On January 27th I spoke with you about your outlook on our environmental future. To reiterate, your view was pessimistic, as you stated that in thirty years things will be a lot worse off than they are now. Additionally, you stated that your top three environmental concerns were: overpopulation, global warming, and deforestation. You mentioned that you are religious, but that does not influence your environmental view. You did share, however, that your medical profession deeply impacts your outlook on the environment. You stated how you see the value of all living things, how they benefit medicine and how these worsening conditions have increased the spread of disease and are having grave effects on human health.
Overall, your pessimistic view is shared by 43% of the sample, while 38% had optimistic views, predicting that the environmental future would be better than he present. In your age group, you were also a part of the majority, as 50% of the 31-40 year old applicants had a pessimistic outlook for our environmental future. As a conservative, you were once again a part of the majority, as 46% of conservatives also had a pessimistic outlook. In contrast, in the group of post graduates, you were the minority, as both pessimistic views (25%) and optimistic views (25%), fell behind the 50% of post graduates who had neutral views about the environment.
Both the majority of post graduates and those in the 41-50 year old range exhibit a neutral point of view. I am curious if this has ties to environmental history and environmental awareness. Assuming that 40-50 year olds attended college in their twenties, they would have been studying in the 1980s and 1990s. In environmental history, this seems to be a dull point, as environmental awareness and action plateaued. In the 1960s and 1970s, lots of environmental action such as advances in environmental legislation and vast conservation and preservation movements, made environmental issues headlining news. In the 80s and 90s, however, these advances slowed down, until they picked back up over the last two decades. Many people claim that this recent spike in environmental awareness in recent years is due to the extreme nature of the issues we face, which were not yet pressing the 80s and 90s. This trend would explain why age groups who were in college in the 60,70s, 00s and 10s exhibited a pessimistic point of view. The high neutrality rates in your education level could be due to the decade in which they were in college and/or developing their environmental perspectives. This decade may not have stressed the importance of environmental action and awareness, which could have played a role in these neutral outlooks. Of course, more data would be needed to support this claim. Although you currently have a pessimistic point of view, you expressed frustration in the neutral outlook of your peers. Perhaps this is because the 1980s and 1990s seemed to be a lowered state of environmental awareness, in comparison to the generation before and after? What do you think of this claim? Perhaps you can inquire your peers, what environmental events, movements, or lack thereof crafted their perception.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Katie