Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything

Climate change is one among the most daunting threat to the environment today. It threatens not only the degradation of our health and environment, but it also impends to destroy the global economy and political security. In the United States, there are many steps taken to combat the threat caused by climate change. However, in the book entitled This Changes Everything, the author, Naomi Klein proposed that the attempt to work against climate change will surely fail, unless people will unite into a common understanding that it is a “part of a much broader battle of world views” (Klein 397). Further, while some people believe that there is no way to solve the current problem of climate change, the author suggested otherwise. As Klein argues,

The signing into law of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1970 reflected the will of the government in initiating legislative acts that welcomes regulatory measures for the modern day environment. The noteworthy transformation of the U.S environmental law after the signing of the NEPA was a result of a “remarkable burst of federal legislation adopted in response to the perceived inadequacies of the common law” (Percival 160). The emergence of many legislations is considered as a response to the shortfalls of the existing laws and the disappointment over the decentralized manner of securing the environment. There was an overwhelming support towards these environmental rulings that engaged the federal agencies to institute regulatory programs on a national level. These regulatory programs that were implemented resulted in the reduction of many pollutants that for the most part, come from the emissions of big industries. Saving the environment was considered by many political leaders of the time to be more pressing than any other issues; however, Klein thought that these leaders were wrong. Klein

Free trade has always been viewed in a positive light, that is, of being a source of economic growth. On the other, the concept of free market fundamentalism promotes the idea that societal well-being is upheld when businesses work mainly towards their self-interest, thus, generally directing their efforts to maximize profits (Stiglitz 346). However, a closer examination of free trade leads one to conclude that it can be destructive to the environment. Further, a closer look towards market fundamentalism exposes one to the idea that it reinforces “the aggressive export of US ‘free market’ principles, the continuous tax cuts of the current administration, the deepening economic inequalities in the USA ..” (Block 327). In contrast to the general belief that market fundamentalism can help in the promotion of societal well-being, Klein argued it has in fact “become the greatest enemy to planetary health (Klein 23). The author noted that in the past several decades, people held the better part of the relationship as the physical requirements of the environment are carved to suit the people’s need for continuous growth, development and profit. This exemplified how market fundamentalism has implemented “policies that so successfully freed multinational corporations from virtually all constraints” (Klein 18). That is, the lack of stricter