mtamargo
Registered: May 2009
City/Town/Province: Stockton
Posts: 1
View this Member's Photo Gallery
|
Action is the single factor that determines achievement, yet to act you must first identify a reason, a reason I define as passion. My reason is social change. Society is defined by a myriad of factors, one very important element being that there would be no society in the absence of the earth. For this reason, we much do everything humanly possible to conserve the earth and her resources. To make such a bold statement, aggressive action is the only solution. Planting a tree and recycling our cans are excellent examples; however, those laudable acts are often overlooked and disregarded. The earth is quickly depleting, and if we want the world to hear how urgent this crisis is, we must verbally inform them. Though the common misconception suggests otherwise, activism may be the only effective tool in raising a strong voice.
In March of 2009, I traveled across the country from California to Washington D.C. by train. My intentions in Washington were to attend the Powershift climate change conference to educate myself of the environmental factors at stake in the upcoming Copenhagen climate negotiations this December. My actions were taken a step further when I lobbied various members of Congress and of the Senate to take bold climate action locally, from proposing a complete moratorium of the use of coal to a possible cap and trade system of sequestering emissions in the short run. Following our lobbying activities, I engaged in more radical activities. I chose to participate in the Capitol Coal Action. Thousands of environmental activists challenged the Capitol Coal Plant, shutting down each of its three entrances. The primary goal of this activism was to blatantly oppose not only the effects of the use of coal on the environment, but also the devastation and destruction it causes simply to be acquired – namely through mountaintop removal, which is damaging to indigenous and native communities whose water supply and crops become severely polluted. Coal is dirty energy, and environmentalists worldwide should agree that there are much better alternatives. As activists, we were able to make a difference through non-violent direct action and peaceful protest as the coal plant was successfully shut down.
Though we did not plant new trees along the streets of Washington D.C. or remove litter from the snow-paved sidewalk, we did eliminate one really large dirty problem in that city. We removed an entire coal plant through activism. One down, hundreds more to go.
|
