‘Environmentalists should use humour — not grimness — like the civil rights movement did’

Aaron Sachs is Professor of History at Cornell University. Speaking with Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke , Sachs — whose cats curled up on his shoulders through the conversation — discussed environmental justice, Donald Trump — and having a laugh: What is the core of your research? The most consistent issue I’ve focused on is environmental justice. I look at the overlap through a long span of history between environmental exploitation and social injustice. I also try to develop a positive outlook by focusing on how social justice and sustainability have often been thought of together. You say comedy matters in people’s attempts to mitigate climate change now — why? The first reason is the morale of people working in climate activism. The problem of environmental damage i