For the air we breathe. For the water we drink. For the places we call home.
On September 20, 300 teens marched through the streets of downtown Grand Rapids chanting this message. They raised their voices in unison and held signs high.
I was one of them.
I’ve loved nature ever since I was little. My grandpa frequently took me on nature hikes. He taught me about different plant and animal species, edible forest foods and how to care for the Earth. My cousins and I did research on endangered species and plants. Nature has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember.
A few years ago I became more aware of how humans leave an impact on the Earth. Now I do things on the daily to make sure I’m not harming the planet. I became a vegetarian in the spring of 2019 because the farming industry is polluting our air and hurting our land.
I will not support animal agriculture and the meat industry. Ranchers burn down rainforests to make room for cattle. Cattle produces methane which is more destructive and present than carbon dioxide. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, animal agriculture creates more greenhouse gas emissions than all transportation combined.
I cannot justify my consumption of meat, and I hope to become vegan one day.
But it’s not just what I eat, I also try and limit my use of single use plastics and paper. Instead of using a paper towel to dry my hands, I’ll use a dryer. I also limit my use of straws, plastic utensils, and paper plates.
I’ve done a lot of research lately on more steps I can take to better the Earth, and I came across the Climate Strike. On September 20, a youth-led organization called the Sunrise Movement tried to make strides to help our planet. Not only did that take place right here in Grand Rapids, but young people all around the world were striking that day to try and spark change in our legislators. I knew it was something I wanted to be apart of.
I talked to my friend, Lizzie Hackett, about going to the march, and we decided to make signs. On one side mine said “Choose eco not ego,” and on the other, “The sea levels are rising. So are we.” We were all ready to go stand up for what we believed in.
The strike started at the Westown Commons, a park in downtown Grand Rapids. We heard from inspiring young speakers who are making change like we are. We marched 1.3 miles to Calder Plaza to senator Gary Peters’ office. Our goal was to demand him to back the Green New Deal and renew his integrity of backing the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge.
As a group, we marched through the streets of Grand Rapids. I held my sign high and all of our voices rang strong.
It was inspiring to see people with the same passions as me standing up for what they believed in. We got some cheers and honks from people driving by, and it was really encouraging.
When we got to the senator’s office, our leaders talked to his representative. He agreed to pass our message on to Peters directly.
The steps I took down the sidewalks of Grand Rapids are ones that I will always remember. Saving the Earth is important, and I encourage more people to make small changes in their daily lives to help.
We only have one planet, and it’s important that we take care of it. Eat less meat. Use less plastic. Recycle. Small changes can help in bigger ways than you’d expect.
Here are some pictures of the inspiring people who stood up for what they believed in.
Interesting perspective, your enthusiasm is respectable, if not misguided. The environment is indeed a noble cause, but before we call for activism maybe we should know what we are supporting. The Hippocratic oath says “First do no harm” which I think should be our nation’s approach to climate change. We should do all we can to not make the problem worse, but solving one issue by creating a thousand more does no favors for anyone. If you actually look at the PDF document of the proposed Green New Deal by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez you will notice that what is asked for isn’t just environmental reform, but an absolute destruction of American life. You can get a complete transcript of the document here: https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=5729033-Green-New-Deal-FINAL
Problem #1, Achieving net zero emissions: Page five article A suggests that we must achieve net zero emissions by 2050. This alone would result in a national depression because, as you will see here (https://www.energy.gov/downloads/2017-us-energy-and-employment-report) Over 6.1 million Americans are employed in the energy business, with over 300,000 new jobs just last year, a majority of them working in traditional fuel sources. To shut down these companies would require a MASSIVE overreach of power by the United States government, as CEOs would be forced to abandon PRIVATE businesses, owned by them, that they have worked hard to create and run. The Government would basically be robbing U.S. citizens at gunpoint. Now I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t appeal to me. The question, would it be possible to get to net zero EVER constitutionally? The answer: only if you changed the constitution to remove the rights of private citizens. We would no longer be a constitutional republic and would be on the path to straight communism.
Problem #2, Create millions of jobs?: Article B suggests that it is our duty “ to create millions of good, high-wage jobs and ensure prosperity and economic security for ALL people of the United States;” I have absolutely no clue how Representative Cortez plans to guarantee a “High Wage Job” to EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN, because if she’s ever taken economics (supposedly she has) she would know that there is only a certain amount of money circulating and for some people to make money others have to lose it. How are we going to guarantee jobs to people who don’t want to, cannot, or shouldn’t have jobs. Are we going to FORCE everybody to work? Will criminals receive High Wage Jobs? How are we going to find a quality job for some kid who dropped out of high school freshman year and doesn’t know any trades?
Problem #3, This isn’t a problem it just doesn’t make sense: Alexandria inserted a whole 10 lines to cultural equality. I am all for equality, but we have bills for that, and she spent more lines on this then any other CLIMATE proposal in the entire bill!!!
Problem #4, We’re just losing it now: On page 7, article E, it states that we must work on “upgrading all existing buildings in the United States and building new buildings” the point of which would be to have more energy efficient homes. What I’d like to know is how in the world she presumes to upgrade EVERY building in the U.S. I looked and I can’t even find the number for how many buildings are in the United States, but if we assume it’s about the same as how many people we have (Given that multiple people may live in the same house, but that many buildings are businesses where no people live and some people don’t live in buildings) that’s far past 100 million buildings that we have to renovate. I’m preeeeeety sure even chip and Joanna gaines on steroids couldn’t accomplish that task.
Problem #5, The complete destruction of our society: You will notice towards the end of this gem you will see on page 10 article B it says that we need to accomplish this fairly by “ensuring that the Federal Government takes into account the complete environmental and social costs and impacts of emissions through—
(i) existing laws;”
Literally everything listed in this bill would require the removal of the constitution as we know it.
“(ii) new policies and programs; and”
New policies like killing all cows and forcing people to take jobs do not sound very attractive at this time.
“(iii) ensuring that frontline and vulnerable communities shall not be adversely affected;”
This is the craziest statement in the entire bill because by implementing this plan we would
Send the U.S. into a depression the likes of which we haven’t seen since WW2
Send the world into a depression almost as bad because statistics show that without the innovation and business from the United States the world cannot keep a healthy economy.
Turn America into a communist nightmare where the government has almost complete autonomy from the people and can do whatever it pleases with whatever force it deems necessary.
The quality of life for the average citizen would fall from where it is now to a place where we are all the equivalent of today’s bottom 10%
Most of our freedoms would be gone. By the time the Government is allowed to steal your business, your money, your time and your home, there is literally nothing to stop them from censoring speech, taking away all our guns, controlling the press, and ruining our lives.
If None Of This Makes Any Sense Then Why Does The Article Exis?: Since It;s obvious at this point that this bill was not made to be a serious solution to climate change, you might be wondering what the purpose of creating this bill in the first place was. It’s exactly this: To pander to the young masses who are clamoring for change. Ocasio Cortez has been losing voters in the democratic party ever since she became the representative she understands that she needs to fire up the masses about all of the most popular topics. She wrote this plan so that she could say that she was doing her part and so she could get some airtime. As she predicted she was celebrated by all of her targets, the young activists who can somehow accurately predict the apocalypse that all of the science studies have missed. What disgusts me is that none of these so called environmentalists have even bothered to read the plan, a plan that could very well destroy our nation if it was ever put into action. These people are going out of their way to voice support for a plan that even the leaders of our 2019 democratic party, specifically the speaker of the house and the senate minority leader, have recognized as a foolish and radical plan. All people care about is the virtue signaling, to say “LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME I SUPPORT THE GREEN NEW DEAL I’M IN THE IN CROWD” But they don’t recognize that the agenda that they are supporting is destructive and foolhardy. All ask is that everyone who voices support for this piece of legislation actually read the thing, cover to cover, ad think again. If you still think the same, then we can have a real discussion, but what really irks me is people with uneducated opinions trying to influence others.