"Never doubt that a small committed group of people can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
~ Margaret Mead
“The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.”
~ Herbert Spencer
Perhaps I am like you, an “accidental activist”. I became aware of the CO2 issue, read about it, attended meetings and then left with the attitude that “it was a done deal”. I let them convince me there was nothing I could do about it.
Having been raised to be “good, compliant citizens, many of us fit this mold. Then the “issue” eats at you......you become more educated on the issue and realize that it is NOT a done deal and by talking to others you discover there are many others like you who do not want to see their environment, safety, health or home compromised for the sake of an “experiment”.
Grassroots initiatives are designed to help each other become more aware of the issues facing our communities. A grassroots initiative will increase dialogue among our elected representatives and increase awareness of the important issues facing our community.
Grassroots organizers view people who don’t share our point of view, not as an “enemy” but as a neighbor who might need more information – often the same information you used to form your opinion. It is not the time to pick sides; it is the time to come together, standing shoulder to shoulder as we mobilize a movement of our friends and neighbors who want what’s best for our community.
As a grassroots movement progresses, the support of the community is imperative. Participation is vital to the success of the initiative, without this participation, it will only have a very limited success. Participates who support the movement need to be active and be heard before it’s too late. Rather than a single voice, the grassroots movement mobilizes a large movement of concerned citizens and it can be a VERY powerful voice.
The CO2 sequestration experiments are funded LARGELY by YOUR Tax dollars and some private industry. Join your local grassroots movement to stop CO2 sequestration NOW! It is not bubbles or carbonation going into the ground, it is an entirely different substance when it is condensed - called supercritical CO2, it is an acid that is an industrial solvent. It is not “stored” in the earth, it is deposited there FOREVER.
Many of us believe it is a band-aid to buy time for the coal industry – an industry that has not protected the people who live and work in their communities! Countless fellow Americans who can't drink their water and who have the shortest life expectancy in our country! I am ashamed to say that THEIR issues did not ever cross my mind until MY issues had something in common with theirs. Now,with the political drums beating to protect the coal industry -the CO2 issue is trickling into my neighborhood and many like mine as it moves around the world as a way for industry to deposit some of their CO2 that is currently released into the atmosphere.
Are you aware that they need to burn significantly MORE coal to capture CO2 and MORE coal to convert CO2 into supercritical CO2 before they use even MORE Coal to convert it into the energy needed to pump it, under great pressure, into the ground FOREVER. Did I mention that YOUR Tax dollars are funding these projects and YOUR electric bill is going to go up considerably? You do the math.
If you are thinking CO2 sequestration might be a solution until clean coal is developed… Sorry Virginia, just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, there is no such thing… clean coal is NOT clean.
If you are opposed to CO2 sequestration, especially if it is scheduled to happen in your neighborhood, I urge you to get educated and get active NOW! Believe the words of Margaret Mead, YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Talk to your family, friends and co-workers. Write letters to the newspaper editor and your elected officials who are supposed to be working on YOUR behalf.
This type of action gave birth to the NIMBY Movement (Not In My Backyard) – it motivates an important American tradition – the right of individual citizens to protect their safety and way of life by uniting in a common cause. Many backyard activists go on to expand their reach, realizing that we are all one people….and our “backyard” includes our community, country and the world.
Please don’t miss this opportunity to become involved and protect what you hold dear – your family’s health, environment, home, community and fresh water, while you still have this window of opportunity to STOP IT!
If this is happening in YOUR neighborhood, we’d love to know about your efforts to put an end to it and we'd love to compare notes!
Please check out the advocacy and action groups listed on this blog - they are doing very important work -Work that most of us have no idea about until it.............happens in OUR backyard. We are grateful for their support in our time of need - they are a terrific source of great information.
Together we CAN make a DIFFERENCE!
"Our mistreatment of the natural world diminishes our own dignity and sacredness, not only because we are destroying resources that future generations of humans need, but because we are engaging in actions that contradict what it means to be human. Our tradition calls us to protect the life and dignity of the human person, and it is increasingly clear that this task cannot be separated from the care and defense of all of creation."
