Michael Pollan's Argument Essay: Why Bother?

Penned by Michael Pollan in 2008 Why Bother was written in response to Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. This essay covers what many Americans were thinking at this time, why bother? If we changed every aspect of our lives in order to save the Earth, would it really fix or undo anything? In his essay, Pollan relies heavily on Ethos and Kairos to fulfil his argument being that with one easy life change it could cause a chain reaction that influences other behaviors resulting in a reduction of our individual carbon footprints. This easy life change that Pollan proposes is gardening.

Michael Pollan’s Escape from the Western Diet connects well with what Mary Maxfield says in her article. Both Pollan and Maxfield talk about the ways that dieting is taking over American people’s healths and causing them to become even unhealthier.

Naomi Klein's novel, This Changes Everything highlights the most imperative actions that need to be taken towards climate change. Klein discusses that as a society we overlook the causes and the changes that need to happen to the systems that are making the crisis inevitable. She encourages formulating a mass movement for climate change that supports changes in the economic system. Klein’s main argument is that, most people think that climate change is a threat, “we have not done the things that are necessary to lower emissions because those things fundamentally conflict with deregulated capitalism” which is the “reigning ideology” of our time (p.18). The purpose of the book is that Klein is supplying society with a challenge: are we on the right path, are we doing the right things for ourselves and for the future, or is this the best we can be? Arguably her core message is one of social and environmental justice: “the solution to global warming is not to fix the world, but to fix ourselves” (p.279).

Michael Pollan publishes an inspiring article, "Why Bother?" to The New York Magazine in April 20, 2008. Pollan desires to discusses the problems with society and how climate changed can be impacted. With only a few words in one can tell how passionate Pollan is in illustrating his "why bother?" question. A strong suggestion Pollan encourages, to his readers, is gardening. Gardening soothes the soul, produces more local produce, and reduces ones ' carbon footprint according to Pollan. Throughout the article, Pollan shows he understands that to make a differnece about climate change it may be difficult and a long process but is possible. By adding humor, specific diction, and concessions Pollan can make his argument in why we, as a society, should bother to do something about climate change.

Climate change is been debated for over centuries now. People all around the world are taking action and reducing burning fossils to minimize the gasses in the atmosphere. Many people believe that climate change doesn't exists. But there are a lot of controversial topics that proves that climate change is real. In my opinion, climate change is slowly killing us and destroying our planet.

Society’s values influence people to construct their personal mores around them, and those who do not are not accepted by society. In our society, those who have well-paying careers are valued above those who do not. So when McCandless decided against following the path society expects him to, his parents were upset. “Chris informed his parents that he had no intention of going to college. When Walt and Billie suggested that he needed a college degree to attain a fulfilling career, Chris answered that careers were demeaning ‘twentieth-century inventions,’ more of a liability than an asset, and that he would do fine without one, thank you” (114). The haughty tone with which he ends the sentence shows his confidence in his decision to live how he wants to live rather than how society expects him to. His parents, who McCandless sees as conformists, want him go to college so he can have a career that is “fulfilling”, which to society seems mean wealth. However, McCandless chooses not to be a conformist by rejecting the path that society deems proper and

This quote said by Washington State Governor, Jay Inslee shows the severity of climate change “We are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and we are the last generation that can do something about it.” “On Earth human activities are changing the natural greenhouse of the Earth.” (A blanket around the Earth). Burning fossil fuels is causing carbon dioxide to be released into the air. By releasing this gas into the air the natural greenhouse gases increase and cause many effects to happen. Carbon dioxide is also caused by removing natural resources from the land for agriculture.

“The only thing that we can do is control what we do next. How we live our lives. What we consume. How we get involved. And how we use our vote to to tell our leaders that we know the truth about climate change”, says Leonardo Dicaprio. In the Documentary Before the Flood, Leonardo Dicaprio travels around the world to meet with scientists, activists, and world leaders who inform us about climate change and how it affects our environment. Rhetorical devices are used throughout the documentary such as pathos, logos, and ethos which all are effective and help make claims that are efficiently supported and understood.

In today’s day and age, climate change is becoming a hot topic. Whether one is an advocate for change or is just skeptical of the entire belief, there is no doubt that this concept is relevant to the modern society. In an article by Robert J. Antonio titled, “Climate Change and Society by John Urry," he evaluates the research of scientist and breaks down the complexities of climate change for the audience. In a separate article by Ashokankur Datta and E. Somanathan titled, “Climate Policy and Innovation in the Absence of Commitment”, the authors evaluate policies concerning the pricing of adapting to more emission-free, healthier technology for the environment. These two articles will be compared and contrasted based on reasons why the public

People rebel when no justice being served. It is understandable why people act a certain way. Have you ever loved someone more than yourself? A person is your biggest pride and joy to be safe? Can you imagine how it feels to no longer have your pride and joy with in a split second, due to the way they look? The exctuaray pain of a death of a child is a mother 's worst nightmare.They feel it is the only way to raise attention. In the city of Ferguson, Michael Brown was an unarmed black teen and was shot by police; this was the beginning of a wave of uprisings against police brutality nationwide.

The ethical sequence, as Leopold sees it, is the process of ecological evolution. The ethical sequence is also a combination of ethics in ecology and philosophy; other wise, known as symbioses. We have ethics in dealing between the individual and with society, but not with men and the animals and plants that we grow up with. This idea of men having ethics toward animals and plants is ecologically necessary and possible. Leopold’s community concept connects the new seemingly different ethics (philosophical and ecological). The community concept is to make man “from conqueror of the land –community to plain member and citizen of it” (Leopold 204). Society has changed the way the landscape is used. There is no harmony to how we handle the

In my area there has an escalated amount of pollution. The amount of pollution has affected the protected wildlife areas and parks. Polluted rivers are killing the wildlife, and animals are in danger because of the heavy amounts of pollution. A lot of people aren 't properly recycling their waste and that affects the environment, and the wildlife living in it, greatly. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has been trying to raise awareness around pollution since 1967. Their goal is to find effective, science-based solutions to the pollution that is destroying the Chesapeake Bay.

Global climate change constitutes arguably the single most important threat to mankind. From the onset of the industrial revolution, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), including carbon dioxide (CO2) have increasingly built up in the atmosphere, causing the climate to warm up slowly but steadily (IPCC, 2014). NASA predicts that 2016 will mark the hottest year on record. The effects of global warming are ubiquitous: Greenland’s glacier and the Arctic ice cap are melting, ocean levels are rising, occurrences of extreme weather are increasing, including hurricanes and areas of either intense drought or flooding. Collectively, these changes and their direct consequences are an imminent danger and they directly affect other urgent issues humanity is

Not just for our health but also for animal’s welfare, we need to be aware about what procedures animals are passing by and how they are being treated. Many of the most fatal sicknesses that affect humans can be prevented if we involve more in those harsh procedures that they suffer and try to look for new solutions to make it stop.

Imagine a world where your house is as deserted just as the town you once lived in, also you have states that are touching water will probably be under water. A world were the air is so hot that it can hurt your throat just breathing. I am a Floridian and love the heat, but I hope that my generation does not have to go through global warming. Global warming is when “The earth’s surface becomes warm and as a result emits long-wave ‘infrared’ radiation”(Maslin pg. 4). Sometimes I wish that global warming is just the world pulling a prank on us, but I feel its not doing that with us. Global warming is one of the greatest discussions this world has ever had. The U.S.A. is discussing why this is happening. In the unsigned article Global Warming the writer wrote, ” Crowded landfills, polluted water, and poor air quality are just a few of the environmental problems that affect both industrial and developing nations”(“Global” par.1). Perhaps less obvious but no less ominous a threat to the environment are the general increase in temperatures worldwide and the resulting climate changes. This phenomenon, known as global warming, could have serious negative effects on humans and all other living things on Earth. Global warming is a complex problem, and governments have had great difficulty deciding how to address it. Some people think that it is the work of the world where nothing we do can ether change it or anything we do will prevent it. While others say that the