Communities and Climate Change: The Power of Local Action

The definition of a community is nearly boundless as there is no solidified answer without looking at the groups identity. Typically, communities are formed through individuals who have a sense of connection and are united by a common objective or lifestyle. In a broad aspect of the term community, its roots refer to unity, unit and common because these concepts are the essentials of a communities foundation. Communities have always influenced societal groups and played big part in who individuals are today.

Members of a community tend to support each other and attempt to stand out from other communities. Therefore, a worldwide community has been required to unite and confront the ever growing presence of global warming as it has become a concern for numerous societies as Earth’s energy sources are an important issue needing to be addressed at the industry and community levels.

Communities are created when there are two or more people sharing the same interests, connections and values which transform into new behaviors like traditions, rituals, and in rare cases, even new forms of communicating.

At times, individuals are group by their distinct living conditions or region, careers, hobbies, etc. which allow them to create a mark that makes the community stand out compared to other communities and solo individuals. Therefore, there are really two types of communities: Communities of Practice(CoP) and Communities of Interest(CoI). A community of practice is considered to shared a set of problems, concerns or passion for a topic as they have a desire to gain continuous knowledge on the topic or issue.

Top Writers

Bella Hamilton

Verified writer

5 (234)

Camilabach

Verified writer

5 (298)

Prof. Laser

Verified writer

4.8 (435)

hire verified writer

Meanwhile, a community of Interest relates to a focused organization like a corporation or government that has an information objective for the community (MITRE, 2016).

A community and its members will thrive from organization and creating situations that make them outlast their surroundings or even become superior in their habitat. For instance, take the Havasupai Tribe or any Native Americans that have formed a long lasting community based off the foundations of lifestyle, personal identity, and strength. Society has formed communities from the beginning of time and to analyze how these form over time through “ …the combination of “practice” and “community” was the best grain size at which to describe knowledge…the question of knowledge management and innovation, and highlighted how both organizational perspectives on knowledge and systems perspectives on knowledge were limiting…Rather how knowledge was embedded in practices, and how communities of practitioners who shared practices might be the correct unit of analysis to examine knowledge”(Bijker, Hughes, Pinch, 2012) have discovered to be the best way to study the human nature and ability through communities. Without communities, there would be a lack of interaction and social being as members of society would have no way to connect, prosper or bring new/innovative solutions to society’s problems.

The community of practice that is being researched and further defined has an objective around the concern for when there becomes an energy crisis because it will lead to a worldwide making every aspect of life a crisis. There are communities around the world from large organizations to local neighborhoods attempting to make a difference one step at a time. Being informed of global warming and how to combat it with renewable energies starts at the community level to prevent a global energy impacts.There are persisting energy issues rising around the world today, which go easily unnoticed typically. For instance, according to numerous researchers, oil has been marked as a scarce resource, and renewable energy resources are starting to be more present, but not quickly enough (Schwartz, Parker, Hess, & Frumkin, 2011). Another step this community has to make outside of the global warming issue, is spreading knowledge as there is a lack of support on the topic in everyday life. This step would be informing communities and organizations, that there can be alternative energies used daily to start making a difference in the environment and economy.

The global energy crisis is slowly being address by country leaders, but solutions are not being adopted at a steady rate, therefore this results in community support being required to make initiatives and actions more rapid. Earth is quickly becoming limited on its energy supply using gas, coal and fossil fuels, therefore we are needing to move towards sustainable energies that are limitless and worry free. Currently, 80% of our energy comes from non-renewable energy sources (Browne, 2009). Earth’s population is undoubtedly growing and this only requires a higher production rate of energy to meet our needs as the population has reached nearly eight billion at the beginning of 2019. A quarter of the world’s population – 1.1 billion people – currently have no access to electricity, which impacts the fulfilment of their basic human needs, and is likely to swell future energy demand (World Economic Forum, 2018). Nearly all electricity and energy is produced with non-renewable sources and these forms are statistically expected to peak within a century or less. Electricity generation accounts for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions – the single largest source of emissions from human activity and a major contribution to human-induced climate change (EPA, 2018)

This community has been developed around furthering local, state and nation projects around the world. There are several renewable energy sources that work efficiently, but are still being further developed for mass use at high production rates to replace oil, gas, coal, and fossil fuels. Renewable energies are not depleted when being used through different sources like wind energy, biogases, solar energy, biomass, and hydro-power are the main focus of renewable energy technology and research communities participate in. The community has taken into effect reducing carbon footprints as each person produces approx. 22 tons of carbon dioxide per year(Department of Energy, 2016). Meanwhile, a majority of companies and political holdings do not look towards these technologies as they can be more expensive and oil meets current needs resulting in change being highly criticized. Although, renewable energies can provide more economic support and community awareness (TREC, 2016).

This global community is currently spreading knowledge to smaller targeted communities of renewable energies and their benefits to gain more support from the community to keep more projects coming in the future. The challenge is to get small towns and business holders to grasp the ever changing technology that goes into renewable sources(New & Renewable Energy Enquiries Bureau, 2000). A large portion of companies and political figures do not support the foundation of communities taking ownership of projects. In some foreign countries, communities can contribute to large renewable energy projects that a private sector has control over, along with communities and private parties both owning these projects and maintain them as a single organization(Carlisle & Elling, 2008). The final barrier to success is realizing the benefits to society and nation from renewable energy generation. For instance, the community will have a proud sense of being and support for their area as people are contributing to the overall good of numerous elements. The effects will result in local job created for people to maintain and build these projects, alongside energy bills being reduced overtime as projects are implemented.

I have always been intrigued in new sources of energy as I feel like we are stuck in a current period of time where business and politics only care about the flow of money and not what is always right. I believe it would be an inspiration for the United States citizens to see a massive change in our society, contribution to environment and truly being a global leader in renewable energy impacts. I discovered that there are several key factors and initiatives the United States is taking, for instance “The consumption of biofuels and other non-hydroelectric renewable energy sources more than doubled from 2000 to 2017…The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. renewable energy consumption will continue to increase through 2050”(U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2018).

Throughout the dozen plus sources I have used to conduct my findings, I find it incredible how many sources and information is out there on renewable energy sources and how a few foreign countries like Sweden are projecting to be 100% renewable energy by 2040. I noticed the United States has focused a lot of attention on wind turbines throughout the coasts and some of the Midwest, but other countries have focused on nuclear and hydropower facilities to meet their goals sooner (Swedish Energy Agency, 2018). This community combating the outlook on renewable energies has a challenge ahead and luckily can succeed with the proper support. This is why I chose this community to support because there may not be a current result, nor one in our lifetime, but making an impact today and making sure the future technology is passed down correctly is the objective at hand.

In conclusion, a community being founded on its roots as individuals who have a sense of connection and are united by a common objective or lifestyle can create a worldwide effect on a situation or interest. Members of a community tend to support each other and attempt to stand out from other communities. Therefore, a worldwide community has been required to unite and confront the ever growing presence of global warming as it has become a concern for numerous societies as Earth’s energy sources are an important issue needing to be addressed globally.