For the lobbyists that does care about the environment, and are keeping their optimism, there has been cases where engaging has helped. There will be more cases solved in the future that is for the greater good of the planet. As a lot of people does not even believe that climate change is happening, or that it is happening, but it has got nothing to do with human activity, there are also more people than ever that does work to better the environment. More companies environmental companies are being made, and companies already existing are making more environmental choices to please the public.
The way the media works now puts more pressure on companies and politicians, and there starts the true story of Lofoten, Vesterålen and Senja.
Far up north, in one of the most northern countries, in a country called Norway there is a population that has got a lot of wealth because of they found oil. Yes the Norwegian people found a lot of oil, and because they had good politicians that used the money oil created to build good public benefits like free school and health care, it became a very good country to live in. They lived happily wealthy ever after. Or so they thought they could.
They found out that science proved that the oil contributed to pollution that was harming the earth. Their oil was harming the earth. The politicians that used to be so wise tried to fool the people into thinking that their oil was the cleanest oil, and there was no other solution as good and officiant. They tried to scare the people into thinking that there would be no more wealth it they did not pump more oil.
In Lofoten the energy company Statoil were looking for oil, and they found it. The nature in Lofoten is very vulnerable, and there was people that reacted on what was about to happen. More oil? There are other energy solutions, and there must be a limit for when there is no longer okay to drill for oil.
A political debate was raised all over the country because the environmental organisation ”Natur og Ungdom” means Nature and Youth, would not leave the politicians, and the oil company Statoil alone. They got the people of Norway on their side, and oil this day they have still not drilled there. If no one reacted they would have drilled there, but because the organisation frequently all over the country demonstrated and got attention in the media, and used the public sphere for what they believed it could be, they got their will. Now the company Statoil can not do what ever they please just for profit.
The organisation thought that if they got enough attention in the media, they would win, so Norway would not build a new oil rig where the nature was vulnerable, and maybe in the future they can stop relying on oil and look for better alternatives.
These are pictures from demonstrations against oil drilling with the organisation Natur og Ungdom. They are wearing fisherman hats to stand up for their jobs, they should not give up, witch they would have to do, if oil drilling started there.
The reason the environment and the public sphere is comparable, is because it is both something environmentalists have to believe in to keep fighting. That the public sphere works ideally would be that everyone gets heard and has the opportunity to make a change. The ideal of the public sphere is that those without power can also have valid points to bring to the public, create awareness of new solutions, create debate about what is not working, and just contribute to what society should become. People believe that if they demonstrate, and are visible in the media, that their case will get heard, even if they are just average people who is just fighting for what they think is right. In this case of oil drilling in Lofoten, Vesterålen, and Senja, that was the case.
Politicians with a lot of power disagreed about the importance of taking care of the vulnerable nature. The rich oil company Statoil made a lot of commercial for why oil is the best future for Norway. Regardless of stopping climate change, and saving the environment, there were powerful courses trying their best to make this place open for oil drilling. Environmentalists in the organisation Natur og Ungdom believed that media as a public sphere was an ideal, just as they believed in climate change, and the importance to make a change.
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