Walking the Talk

My son, Doug, is an environmental scientist.  He works at an environmental firm in the Atlanta area.  He has earned his P.E. (Professional Engineering) certificate and has worked on the environmental side of projects throughout the southeast.

Unlike his Dad, Doug doesn't just talk about the environment. Not only does he work in an environmental field, but also now that he is a homeowner, he is adapting his home to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

In the picture above, you see Doug and Benjamin putting on some finishing touches to some gardening boxes they are going to have in the front yard.  They hope to grow their own vegetables, herbs, and fruit.  They are helping the idea of urban gardening come to life.

They have also installed solar panels on the roof of their house.  They are awaiting a battery that will help them use built up charges, but they will soon be off the grid, contributing more energy than they use.  For this service to Georgia Power,  the utility company will be charging them a monthly connect fee, even though they are increasing NOT DECREASING Georgia Power's bottom line.

It's just one small way that the state of Georgia has decided to fight renewables rather than progress the state forward.  Utility profits are more important than moving the state forward in combatting global warming.

They also have a battery operated electric car, the Nissan Leaf!

So, my son is doing more than Senator Dianne Feinstein from California.  Yes, it's true.  She may have here own plan in mind that she feels is superior than participating in the Green New Deal.  Yes, it's true.  The video of her confrontation with the children advocating for the Green New Deal was only a snippet of her meeting with them.  Nevertheless, it does not look good, and her attitude toward them is not promising.

Doing things like Doug is doing, as individuals, is very important.  But it won't stop what's coming.  That will take changes in government attitude, fixes in law and regulations.  And congressional representatives, even Democratic ones who understand that doing something is important, may have to be pushed to move faster and more decisively.

And that will only happen with activism.  And like the civil rights era, sometimes that will seem noisy and impolite.  The time for quietly sitting in line behind the lobbyists is over.  It will take a non-violent protest.  It will take efforts that will cause attention and fuss.

The quiet children, the polite children, the ones who wait in line, will get ignored.

The stakes are too high.

Time to make some noise!