The Boogeyman
A few weeks ago, I responded to a tweet by the Special Presidential Envoy John Kerry (@ClimateEnvoy). On Sept 17, @ClimateEnvoy tweeted “Methane reductions are the single most effective strategy to reduce global warming in the near term and keep a 1.5 C future within reach. Join the #GlobalMethanePledge and cut methane 30% by 2030.”
I replied (@EBHite22), “Great that means no support for hydropower right?” followed by a few sources that highlight the methane emissions produced by hydropower, including one in Nature by Jim Giles titled Methane quashes green credentials of hydropower and another by the European Research Council titled Tropical dams: An underestimated source of greenhouse gas emissions.
In response to my post, someone tweeted that they “object to making hydropower a boogeyman.”
I had heard of climate change being referred to as a boogeyman in opinion pieces and books written by climate deniers. Authors seem to think that climate change is a way to fear monger (especially children) and build a cult of zombies that march in the streets and unquestioningly follow liberal ideologies.
It is an interesting analogy. But unlike the boogeyman, a fictional character that drives fear of the dark, the closet, and under the bed in children, climate change and hydropower have very tangible impacts that are clear and present in everyday life, in communities throughout the world.
And in contrast to the idea that people are zombies marching to some leftist liberal drum, climate activists are anything but conformers to some set of predetermined principles. Greta Thunberg’s recent speech at the Youth 4climate pre-COP meeting in Italy illustrates that the youth are no passive zombie, but are equally critical of all so-called leaders who have yet to take decisive action against climate change.
Greta, along with many scholars (including Jonathan Franzen and Katherine Hayhoe), advocate for addressing climate change with hope - hope that is directly tied to action. Those participating in marches protesting injustices of climate action by governments are not immobilized by fear as the boogeyman climate deniers suggest; they are anything but members of an environmental evangelist doomsday cult as one lively boogeyman conspirator believes.
I don’t want to completely dismiss the boogeyman rhetoric. Learning about alternative perspectives may help us as a society better understand the reasons why some are so climate resistant. Such a culturally relativistic perspective could prove to be beneficial in policy, mitigation, and adaptation negotiations.
Instead of thinking that dams are some form of boogeyman that lurks off in dark corners or under beds, we should take them for what they are - massive infrastructure projects that have historically and are currently responsible for devastating social and ecological impacts and that threaten cultures, identities, connections to place, and livelihoods of millions of peoples. And communities can transform their hope into a Utopic future through actions that will make that future a reality.