World Wildlife Fund

Ben Wessel

Blog 7-10 July 2008
Environmental Studies Major at Middlebury College, Vermont

Posted 7 July 2008, 11.55 AM

Hi there - my name is Ben Wessel and and I recently participated in the Voyage for the Future. I am an environmental studies major at Middlebury College in Vermont and a native of Washington, DC. I have long been involved in environmental activities and plan to dedicate my career to promoting awareness about climate change. With the belief that climate change is the defining issue of my generation, I take personal responsibility in mobilizing youth to act on this issue.

About me, well this year I helped take the lead in organizing 'PowerShift Vermont', a youth climate conference held at Middlebury.and I completed a month-long backpacking course in the Absarokas Mountains of Wyoming with the National Outdoor Leadership School. I also love to snowboard, hike, and play Quidditch. I am an avid New York Yankees and Washington the Middlebury College radio station

I'm really looking forward to blogging about the 'Voyage' and my next steps in our fight against climate change. Send me comments and questions as I'd like to hear from you, and how you can help make a difference.

Thanks - Ben

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Posted 7 July 2008, 12.07 PM

Jane M. wrote:
With so many causes to choose from, why is climate change such an important issue to you?

Ben's response:
Good question - fighting climate change is important to me because I sense the urgency of the situation we are currently in. Both marginal places on Earth, like the Arctic, and marginal people on Earth, like those suffering from intensified and irregular droughts and floods, are already feeling the terrible effects of an altered world. This is not just about polar bears and ice in some far away place that we can put up on a shelf and save it for that mysterious time calthing that's impacting our world in unimaginable and irreversible ways now, and we cannot afford to make the mistake of hesitation and inaction. We've got to work for a safe future for all people on earth, and currently climate change is their biggest threat.

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Posted 7 July 2008, 5.35 PM

Lee R. wrote:
What was your most memorable experience from the Voyage program?

Ben's response:
To me, the most memorable part of the Voyage for the Future was when we were walking across a massive glacier on Svalbard. Neil Hamilton, the head of the WWF's Arctic program asked us how far across the glacier we were facing was. Everybody guessed a mile or two miles. In actuality, it's three and half miles across, an imaginable expanse of white ice and snow. In that moment, I think all of us felt incredibly small in comparison to the huge glacier. Looking baco think that each of us and our little actions and little lives have such a big impact on this giant landscape as to hold the potential for it to disappear. I have never felt so tiny and huge at the same time in my life as that moment

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Posted 7 July 2008, 6.1i

Amy B. wrote:
What are your next steps to combat climate change now that you are home?

Ben's response:
Now that I'm back in the United States, I'm working towards getting our politicians, business leaders, and social leaders to take strong, bold, and immediate action on the climate crisis. The best way I know how to pressure those leaders is to mobilize the public and the grassroots into action. I'm trying to help facilitate the movement of individuals in the States and internationally demanding that their leaders put climate change and sustainability at the front of their agendas. One way that I'm doing this is by helping to expand the Green Finger project, a way for people to show what they personally want to protect from the ravages of climate change. It's a video project that any one can do really eaVoyage trip can be viewed here. I'm confident that the whole group of Voyage students will stick together and combat this crisis together for years to come.

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Posted 8 July 2008, 11.49 AM

James R. wrote:
How hard do you think it will be to mobilize your peers into action? How realistic are your goals?

Ben's response:
In truth, I think it's definitely going to be an uphill struggle to motivate individuals to act and I think that comes from the fact that it's not often easy to see how climate change impacts each and every one of us. This isn't just an environmental issue. This is an economic issue that will determine sources of energy and will inspire the creation new jobs, technologies, and corporations. This is a political issue that will shake up foreign relations, international trade, and the balances of power. This is a human rights issue that will pit our desire to save lives against our current attachment to the status quo. Often, I get people asking me "What can I do?" They are numbed by all the information that bombards them. My best answer is for people to examine their own habits and behaviors and see how they individually can change their lives to become more eco-friendly. Beyond that, they must demand leadership and action from those that purport to be their "leaders." Many parts of our lives, communities, and societies are controlled by business, politics, and other forces seemingly outside up and demand the change that we need and that we deserve. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, we must beware "the appalling silence of the good people" who know and care, but do not act.

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Posted 8 July 2008, 1.13 PM

Tyler K. wrote:
What was it like to see a polar bear in the wild?

Ben's response:
Seeing a polar bear in the wild was absolutely unreal. The bear we saw was incredibly beautiful and goofy and majestic, but we were all left a little sobered by the experience. To think that our acour friends, families, and everyone else on the planet are single-handedly contributing to the demise of this powerful creature was really scary for all of us.

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Posted 8 July 2008, 5.56 PM

Sammy B. wrote:
What's the Arctic like?

Ben's response:
The Arctic truly can't be captured in words. From the mountains to the sea ice, from the blue glaciers to the blue sky, the Arctic is really just a little slice of heaven. Obviously, there is such intense attention being paid to the Arctic currently because of how harshly global climate change is treating the environment there, but what isn't being focused on is the fact that "as goes the Arctic, so goes the rest of the world." Feedback mechanisms in the Arctic mean that as the Arctic is negatively impacted, we will feel the effects of these changes in the US and all around the world too. The Arctic is most powerful to me in what it represents, the part of the world feeli effectsimate chost drastically and with the most potential to fundamentally all or lives.