Final Paper. Climate Change and Racial Justice. Social Sciences Essay

Name
Tutor
Course
Date
Final Paper
Europe is pioneering the fight against climate change in a way that has never been seen before. In the United States (U.S.), however, climate change does not seem to be an issue for the government. Recently, the U.S. government announced the country's departure from the Paris Agreement. This came as a blow to other members and the world as well. The fact that a country as powerful as the U.S. is taking the issue of climate change so lightly is alarming. President Trump said that climate change is just a hoax invented by China. This shows how ignorant the U.S. government has chosen to be when it comes to climate change. But the government is not the main problem, as this paper will show. Climate change has a lot to do with those who have power and how they choose to use it. In some ways, the issue of climate change can be compared to colonialism, modern imperialism, and neo-imperialism.
Colonialism came about because there were some countries with greater power and influence over others. Colonialism is an ideal that can be traced back to Greek civilization. For a period of time, Greeks and Persians exerted power over each other after one conquered the other. This idea continued with the emergence of the Roman empire. Through their well-organized political structure and military, the Romans could conquer other republics and kingdoms and establish provinces, which would then be ruled by Roman governors. These provinces acted as colonies to the Romans because it was the same basic principle of one republic exerting its power and influence. By the early nineteenth century, this idea was still common in Europe, as seen in France's ambitious conquests under Napoleon Bonaparte. However, after Napoleon's plans eventually failed, it was Great Britain that emerged as the most powerful empire of the age.
When Great Britain, alongside other European countries such as Germany, France, Belgium, and Portugal, established their colonies, they did so with the sole aim of increasing their individual country's wealth. This meant forcing colonized nations to provide cheap labor and resources, which would then produce commodities that colonialists could trade. This idea of colonialism, modern imperialism, and neo-imperialism is still evident to date. Only now, it is used indirectly. Powerful conglomerates and countries seek to exploit other nations for their resources so that they can get richer and more powerful. A perfect example is the U.S. Since the U.S. became the most powerful country globally, it has continued to exert its power and influence over war-torn countries in the middle east with the excuse of bringing peace to these nations.
According to the U.S. government, leaving these warring nations to their devices poses a great threat to the U.S. and other countries in the world. However, a deeper look into the U.S. government's motives reveals that it is hell-bent on exploiting these nations for their resources. The U.S. does not produce enough oil locally to meet the needs of its people. However, since oil is readily and cheaply available in the Middle East, the U.S. government sends its troops there under the pretext of restoring peace only to use the opportunity to find and drill oil reserves...