Introduction: Justice Randolph

My name is Justice Randolph; I am a junior in SIS concentrating in International Politics with a minor in Political Science. I thought I'd introduce myself for this class by sharing my unfortunate collection of environmental sins. I live in Kansas City (about a thousand miles from DC) and I fly home several times a year. I eat meat. I love driving. I drink soda and coffee on a daily basis. And, there are others, I’m sure.

Environmental issues have long been a concern of mine. As an elementary school student in Berkeley, California, the environment was probably the most common theme in science class and as I recall, all of our experiments connected to humanity’s environmental impact in some way. Also, as a child, I would always ask to pray for the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil during the Joys and Concerns portion of the church service every week. Finally, my father is an ethicist who works on environmental ethics, so environmental justice was also a common topic of conversation at home as well.

I’m taking this class to reconnect with a life-long concern and connect it with a newer interest: politics. I hope to gain stronger grasp of the environmental issues facing humanity now, as well as a better understanding of what has, and can, be achieved through national and international politics.

In his article, Fish expresses the feelings of many Americans. I believe, we want to live as an environmentally friendly people, but in our society, it is usually the easiest solution that wins out: it takes effort and sacrifice to live sustainably.

I also think this title is interesting, "I Am, Therefore I Pollute." My original score on the Ecological Footprint thing was 4.6 earths; however, I went back and re-answered the questions in the most environmentally sustainable way I could. The second time, I was a vegan who only traveled by foot and bicycle, I lived in an efficient house with a dozen roommates, and I lived without electronics and even that was not enough to make my lifestyle sustainable. The few people who do actually manage to live that environmentally friendly still rack up an ecological footprint of 2.6 earths, by virtue of being American I think. I think many Americans say to themselves “I am, therefore I pollute, therefore I life might as well be easy and comfortable.”