I'm Glad I'm Old

"I'm glad I'm old." the man said with a resigned smile. I was almost finished giving him my spiel about Citizens Climate Lobby, carbon fee and dividend legislation, and climate change while attending a tabling event at the University of Vermont for Earth Day.

It's funny how whenever scientists come out with an estimate of when some of the worst effects of climate change will hit the first thing people do is calculate how old they will be. I will admit, I share that guy's sentiment sometimes and feel relieved that I'm not just starting out my life. I bet many of you do too. But I have kids. I have a niece, nephews, little cousins, and friends who are just starting out, or recently finished college, or are still in K-12 school. I have to care, WE have a responsibility to care and act.

This Earth Day I went to the Climate Convention at the University of Vermont. I went with a clipboard to talk to people about Citizens Climate Lobby. How it gives me hope. How it gives people concrete steps to take to chip away at Washington DC's refusal to act.

At the tabling fair I was less than impressed with some of the students I met. Campus Eco Reps who only thought as large as the campus and their answer to everything was to get more compost bins and teach people how to compost. Composting is important and related to climate change, and it's good to start with the basics. The Eco Reps didn't know much about climate change though, so weren't really concerned. THE ECO REPS WEREN'T CONCERNED BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T KNOW! If Eco Reps are uninformed....ouch.

Then I met students from VSTEP (the VT Student Environmental Program) who wholeheartedly agreed that they are concerned about climate change. One student in particular was especially interested in carbon tax and sounds like he will join CCL. So there's that at least.

Then I went to the speaking event at 1:00. The main focus of the event was to raise awareness against fracking in particular, and fight against Vermont Gas' proposed pipeline to carry fracked natural gas through Addison County and underneath Lake Champlain to Ticonderoga, NY.

Speakers included 350 Vermont, Rising Tide Vermont, Greenpeace, and VPIRG. One of Senator Bernie Sanders' staffers came and read a statement he prepared on climate change and the bill he is co-sponsoring with Senator Barbara Boxer.

From L-R: UVM event organizer, 350VT, Bernie Sanders' office, 350VT, Greenpeace, VPIRG, UVM Prof

It was the young speakers who were the most inspiring by far. Some of the most memorable points are below. My paraphrasing isn't as inspiring as what the speakers actually said, but you will get the flavor of it all.There was lots of whooping and cheering, as well as booing and hissing for all the right reasons.

• Activism is a step beyond hope. Activism means doing something proactive to get what you want.
• 350 VT tried to get a bill passed to Divest State funds from fossil fuels. It was voted down in committee by a vote of 3-2. 350 Vermont plans to try again next year. Call your state legislators and the State Treasurer and urge them to divest. The State Treasurer means well, and accepts climate change is real, but is still very business as usual in her approach.
• Earth Day began in 1970 and sparked a big movement that led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. By 1990 Earth Day got really big, but it was being sponsored largely by oil and gas companies. These companies shifted the focus to individuals and what they can do to reduce their own environmental impact while glossing over the systemic problems that have led to the continuous destruction of the planet. When Exxon tells you they believe every day is Earth Day, something is not right with the world.
• Coming to an Earth Day event is an act of optimism. No individual has power to take on the systemic problems we face, but together we can make things change.
• The Rising Tide speaker spoke about how as a child she obsessed about reducing her own environmental impact, sorting trash to make sure to get out the recyclables, knowing the types of plastic by sight, taking cold showers, etc. Then she realized that those individual actions won't do anything on a global scale, it was only making her feel a little better about environmental problems. She realizes now that she has to fight the system that puts profits and short-term benefits above all else. She's studying environmental engineering as a result.
• Vermont Gas, the company trying to build that pipeline under Lake Champlain, despite its name is not a Vermont company. It is part of a multinational company trying to build natural gas pipelines all over.
• The students participating in this rally didn't cause global warming, but we have a responsibility to deal with it
• At least Bernie is concerned about climate change and introduced a bill along with Senator Barbara Boxer that would price carbon. (CCL doesn't think his proposal will do enough, but we can work with him on that!)

My own conclusions:

1. I had a hard time finding Earth Day events to participate in. This was disheartening. Have people forgotten Earth Day and what it is supposed to mean? We need Earth Day now more than ever.
2. We need more young people in political offices, young people are more likely to recognize that we are in a brave new world and need to see everything through the lense of climate change and make decisions accordingly.
3. We need to retain HOPE, and then take it further and ACT.

Signs stuck all over campus

Photo from BFP on 4/23/14
Look it's me on the far right in a red jacket!