As Summer Nears an End…

It’s hard to believe that these 9 weeks of our summer program are quickly drawing to an end. While these weeks have been full of both ups and downs, the people from each community we’ve met with have inspired me to keep trekking along this summer journey. Completing an exhausting week in Belfast, I didn’t think there was any energy left in my body that would allow me to travel down to Bath, ME for yet another week of events. But looking back at how welcoming the community of Belfast was to our entire team and how the work we are doing has been such an inspiration, I have found myself refueled to continue on my journey that will eventually conclude in Boston.

I knew Belfast was going to be a special town when the first night of our official entrance culminated with a pot luck dinner that had an attendance of over 30 people. Little did I know that I would see most of these people present at the potluck every day, throughout the week. From working at the community garden, helping Karen Ireland with a permablitz that entirely transformed her yard into a labyrinth/garden in one day, to helping out with the New Forest Institute, our entire stay at Belfast was full of friendly community members. It was also exciting to see how these community members really believed in our mission, showing up not only for the potluck, but for our documentary film
screening of “Carbon Nation”.  The wonderful community of Belfast, ME has showed me that the work I have done over the course of the summer is not only appreciated, but is making a small step towards a more sustainable future.

 

The Adventures of Pet Screw

My bleak life began in a mass of clanking gears, clouds of smog and cyclone of darkness and I opened my young eyes as I tumbled down the indifferent hands of the assembly line. For the first few years of life I stayed trapped in a musty box breathing in the fumes spewing from the coal factory that was my home. While I remained trapped in my cage of dust, darkness and gloom I heard from my comrades who managed to escape the lead paint chipped walls that surrounded us about the progress taking place in the country beyond the factory. I heard stories of laws protecting our air and water quality and myths about saving the endangered species. Some of my brothers and sisters wrote from the front lines of the Vietnam Peace Protests. From my little cage in the depths of the factory in the middle of the wasteland I knew one day I would see blue skies and clean air and the days of enslavement would be long behind me.

Finally, on a dark and stormy day lightening crashed through the sky and thunder rolled from all corners of the universe. The day came in which I was picked up from my factory warehouse and loaded into a large 18 wheel truck to shipped across country. The whole ride I shivered in fear as the fumes from the burning diesel leaked into my brain. In my delusions I foresaw a problematic future of social unrest, environmental upheaval and economic collapse. I feared for my kind as well as mankind. What will happen to all the pet screws? What about our little screwettes? What world will we pass on to them? Finally my tumultuous journey came to end. I arrived in the sunset peaking out of clouds and as I was unloaded from the gas guzzling truck I saw a double rainbow splashed across the sky and for a moment I saw a hope in my future and the future of mankind. If there was anything that was sacred it was the natural world and we would find way to save it in order to save ourselves.

But before long I was hustled into a chain toy store in Biddeford Maine and stashed among the many other Pet Screw hoping to one day be loved and cherished by a family of my own. For many months I watched shelves get emptied and refilled with Polly Pockets and Plastic Cap guns and wondered what was the purpose of all these material things? Is this what made people happy? And what happens to them when Little Susie grows tired of her Polly Pockets? As a little Pet Screw in this big world I just couldn’t comprehend the constant consumerism. Didn’t people know that these material things were non-renewable. That soon there would be on Polly Pockets or even Pet Screws. As Christmas time came around and I got moved to the sale rack, a sweet old Granny in a pink crocheted sweater picked me of the shelf for her dearest grandkids, little Johnny and Lucy.

She loaded me into her large warm SUV and we puttered along the slippery roads into a town where ever house looked alike. How would she know which know which house is hers? Finally we arrived at her home and she took me inside and wrapped me in colorful paper and stowed me in a closet for a few days. I began to think this was it for my life, that this is where I would spend the rest of my days, here in this dark room, just like where I began.

Then a magical day came. I now know this day to be called Christmas. I was driven in that same warm car to another house in the neighborhood, and put under a big tree inside the house. I heard a little boy scream and was then jolted around so violently I flew around inside my cage. Then the paper was ripped off, and a big scream came from this tiny boy. “Look Lucy! A Pet Screw!” Johnny passed me to his sister, who tossed me around happily for a few seconds, then threw me into a pile of other toys and moved on to another large gift under the tree. At first Johnny and Lucy seemed to care a great deal about me. They used to pet my grooves and take me on bike rides, but that ended once they got their own cars. I was soon rolled under some couch where I was forgotten for many years. I watched the family grow older and everything in their home became more modern. There was no place for a rusty old pet screw like me. Their days were now filled with the jobs they went to everyday and the maintenance of all the things they owned. When little Johnny went to college, he cleaned out all his old stuff and found me under his couch. I was flung in a box and the same granny that found me dropped me off at a Church yard sale and then my life was changed forever.

I awaited anxiously among the ticking clocks and bad romance novels, trying unsuccessfully to make small talk with the barrel of monkeys when two blue eyes were shoved into my space. “OH MY GOD GUYS I JUST FOUND OUR NEW TEAM PET” erupted from this strange creatures mouth. Laughter arouse in the group as I passed fondly from hand to hand. Before the end of the night I felt as if I found home as the seventh member of the Maine Team of New England Climate Summer. Finally I was free to see the beautiful world I had been deprived of for two long. On the back of brad’s bike I soaked in the open roads, the blue skies and rolling fields, I felt as if a better future was something we could achieve. As we rode out of Biddeford I could smell the burning trash being incinerated at the MERC plant in town. I was so proud for my teammates speaking the public hearing on MERC’s presence in town. As we left we passed the North Dam Mill where we spent time earlier in the week. Doug Sanford’s vision of a future in which we live and work in same place while sharing utilities and running off of clean energy was inspiring to us and gave us hope that there are alternatives for our future. Arriving in Portland we began our journey by first meeting with Interfaith Power and Light, an organization that joins people of faith to combat climate change and implement alternative energies in places of worship. We realized that these are issues that matter to everyone, even across faith boundaries. We got a look at the Ocean Renewable Power Company, and how the power of the tides of Maine are harnessed for energy to be used for electricity. This was something unique to Maine, and a stable and predictable source of energy as the tides always come in and out. We went to farmer’s markets and talked to people buying local foods, and had them sign postcards about the Clean Air Act. We did some manual labor for Portland Trails, and had a potluck with people interested in permaculture. ReVerb, a company that makes concerts greener, told us about their efforts with famous artists to create a more sustainable future in the music industry. Our time in Portland culminated in a bike valeting event on the fourth of July, where we constructed an arch out of recycled bike tubes and wheels.

Then we rode to Lewiston! In this town we worked with an organization called Lots to Gardens, and got to know some of the Somali refugees who were learning about gardening and biking, two things the Maine Team has come to appreciate and enjoy. We even got to host a bike parade in the park downtown for anyone to come ride for a cause they believed in, and had the chance to fix up some kids’ bikes that needed some serious attention. One night we rode to Merry and Burl’s house for dinner, up a steep mountain, it was quite a ride! While we were eating, a huge storm was brewing. We didn’t know how we would make it 12 miles home in such a storm! When it looked like it passed, we hopped on our soggy bikes and effortlessly flew down the mountain we laboriously climbed hours before. It was at this moment I saw something incredible, a sight that took me back years before when I was still a baby screw, naïve to the world I live in today. I saw a rainbow after the storm we waited out, a shining show of lights across the color spectrum over a misty lake. I realized the time I spent with these students was showing me that the world we live in is always changing. The last time I saw this sight, I had a bleak outlook on life and the world I was living in. Now, I was traveling across Maine with these inspiring students talking to all kinds of people I would never have met otherwise. The rainbow made my journey of a better future real, as I realized I was finally living in it.

Then we headed to the state’s capitol city, Augusta! We had heard lots about the city, especially the governor, who hasn’t been too popular with the people of Maine who we’ve talked with. We thought we could talk to him and ask him some questions about the better future we were promoting. Turns out we needed an appointment, so decided to take to the streets of downtown Augusta with sidewalk chalk and write quotes and sayings that would make people think about the problem at hand. We made quite a scene, and a cool video too!

Finally on Monday we arrived in the town we had been waiting for this whole summer, Belfast. We were itching to get out of Augusta, so we called Susan up and she told us about the Hungry Heron Farm. There we spent a couple days with Jennifer and Marshall tying up tomatoes, splitting wood, wow lauren’s good at that, weeding and building a compost bin. After a great bon fire, wonderful food and laughter we crawled into our cabin and fell asleep. We woke up the next morning energized to meet the people of Belfast. We were welcomed with a lovely pot luck dinner full of inspiring conversation and wonderful people. Today we garden with Marshall, Carol, Judith and Susan and tomorrow we are undoubtedly excited for the Permiblitz at Karen Ireland’s house.

What a great adventure it has been on the road, seeing Maine and talking about sustainability. Next week we are off to Brunswick and finally to Boston for a culminating week with all the other riders spread out around New England. Through out our journey I have learned so much about the present but even more about how the future can be. What we live in is what we create and what we need to create is something beautiful and connecting. We need to be passionate about the things we do, we need have humility for the earth and we need to work from the roots up. Like the environment what we are building is an interconnected ecosystem. From the smallest pet screw to every person to the widest mountain range to the wildest rainforest we all are part of this movement and we are all part of the solution.

Four Hundred Years of Change

Posted by Marina Stevenson:

On a beautiful sunny day in Kingston, Mark Beaton, chair of the Green Energy Committee, took the Mass Action team sailing down the coast to Plymouth Harbor. Plymouth, Mass.: a place where history lies as deep as the ocean water, from the replica of the Mayflower anchored at the dock to the enclosure where what remains of Plymouth Rock after years of tourists chipping off souvenirs is on display. Practically every shop along the waterfront was pilgrim-themed and groups of international sightseers walked along the streets.

After a long morning's hard work: us with Pine duBois.

Although we had taken the trip to Plymouth to learn about the modern steps that Kingston is taking to meet a future of climate change, my thoughts concerned the past of this coastal town. Gazing down at Plymouth Rock, I tried to imagine my ancestor, Elder William Brewster, stepping ashore at this point 391 years ago. What would it have looked like? How different had this now built-up coastline appeared? How had he imagined the future of this place, and what was his vision for what it would look like four hundred years from that day?

I’m a student of geology. As far as rocks are concerned, four hundred years is not a long time. Yet in terms of human history, it’s long enough for a sparsely populated coastal area to become a highly trafficked city faced with the consequences of the human actions that took place within the intervening time span. Although I can only guess at what my ancestor’s vision of a future Plymouth may have been, I am certain he would never have imagined that in 2011 his great-something-granddaughter would be standing at that point as part of a summer-long journey to abolish the burning of fossil fuels. I am certain he never would have imagined that within such a short time, the future of the city he helped to establish could be under such imminent threat.

Predicted sea level rise for Kingston; follow link to search your area

Which leads me to wonder: in another four hundred years, should one of my descendants be standing at that point (assuming that it still exists and the coastline hasn’t been drowned by rising sea levels, what will that brave new world look like? Will my great-something-grandchild have a future to look forward to? Will her society have overcome the challenge of climate change and made the transition to a sustainable, fossil fuel-free existence? Or, like me, will she face an uncertain future, one in which she wonders if her descendants will even be able to return to Plymouth Rock in another four hundred years?

Trying to think that far into the future frightens me, because so much about this coming century is uncertain. But on another level, it also makes me hopeful. It reminds me that this fight isn’t just about the citizens of today; it’s about every single future generation, for the next four hundred years and beyond. I would like to hold on to the hope that in another four hundred years, this place will still be there for my descendants. That Plymouth Rock will not have been submerged. That there will be a future for my children, even unto the seventh generation.

Have you been to Westport Point?

By: Lauren Clapp

Climate summer is beginning to end, and I finally feel like we’re getting the hang of the routine: ride 35-50 miles, recover, meet lots of awesome people, ride our bikes, sleep on the floor, explore the city, work with and learn from our community partners, ride our bikes, attend services at the church we’ve been staying at, and ride again. Our past week in Westport, however, was a welcome break from routine. Westport was easily the most beautiful we’ve visited all summer, and MAssMovement took some much needed R&R time to go beaching and admire the view.

MAssMovement rides to Westport

Another deviation from our norm was church on Sunday.  Pastor Katherine asked us to be a part of the service, which is something we’ve become used to this summer. This past Sunday, our involvement in the church service worked a little differently than what we’ve normally done all summer (stand up, give our shpeal, sit back down, eat cookies). The four of us sat in front of the

With the marvelous Pastor Katherine

congregation with PK, and gave a “scripted dialogue” sermon, which was interspersed with a hymn. Carrie and Moe gave their personal narratives, Rayleigh asked WPP residents to opt in for renewable energy through NSTAR or National Grid, and I gave my general impressions of Westport, which I would like to share with the blogosphere world here.

After giving some thought to the question that Pastor Katherine asked me to respond to (What are your impressions of Westport, and what will you share with others about our community after you leave?), three things came to mind.

First, is the sense of community present in Westport, powerful and tangible in a way that we have not been exposed to in any other town or city we’ve visited this summer. People here know each other, care about each other, and even if they don’t always agree with each other, they realize they are all connected by the place they call home.

a great night of bluegrass music!

Wednesday night, Carrie and I went for a walk after dinner. We ended up at the end of Main Road, at the wharf, where we happened upon a ragtag bluegrass band playing its heart out. We asked some of the audience members about the event, and they told us simply that it was something that happened every Wednesday night- there was no formal organizing about it, one time it just “happened” and it became a tradition. Anyone was invited to play, and most people in Westport know about this summertime tradition. In an age of online relationships and disconnected communication, this is not something you see every day.

Carrie and I get centered

Second was a key learning my team and I realized after a visit to a local business that had tried alternative energy…and it was a bust. This company built wind turbines on its property and had not seen any sort of significant return on the investment. During our stay in Westport PK did personality inventories for each of us, and what do you know? ¾ of our team tested as idealists (I’d be willing to be this is a statistic that is replicable across all of climate summer).  As idealists, it is a common trap for us to keep our heads in the clouds, focusing on the big picture and sometimes losing sight of the little things. It was important for us to see the challenges of building a world full of fossil fuels, to see failure, and to think critically about how to achieve our vision.

Finally, I was blown away by the beauty of Westport Point. Coastal roads with beaches and ocean juxtaposed to open farmlands. In her personal narrative, Moe talked about the need to preserve our safe places and protect spaces on this earth we feel connected to. One of the most dire effects of burning fossil fuels is, of course, climate change. Westport Point, being a coastal community, is extremely vulnerable to the consequences of climate change, such as rising sea waters and ocean acidification. Climate change could (and if we don’t do anything, will) change Westport and the Point. This change will not be for the better. I want my family, friends and children to be able to visit Westport and see the gorgeous landscapes I saw last Sunday. I want to preserve Westport and protect this special place.

Dead Silence: The Story of Roadkill

Posted by April Bello

Driving across the interstate highway, paved streets, and even dirt roads, we rarely realize our surroundings, particularly not what lays beneath us. We drive over potholes, debris, and life. We seldom, if ever, acknowledge that one million animals are killed yearly in the United States by cars just like ours (and maybe your very own). Road kill is just one of the realities of life that we are not conscientious about while we are driving or when we are pressing forward in other aspects of our days.

Outline of Route 3A; courtesy of Google Maps

The blood and the splatter have been most apparent while biking from New Hampshire and across Massachusetts on this capricious journey that is Climate Summer.  I carry vivid images of the countless squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies, cats, birds, mice, snakes, and turtles that I have had to dodge and seen tossed on the shoulders of roads. I shut my eyes and I see various hues of red painted over furry surfaces and I can still feel the glazed eye of the bunny on Route 3A staring back at me—demanding for an answer to his/her death. The sights of mangled insides made visible in the outside were not simply a somber and grotesque sight of road kill nor just another example of the negative impacts of driving, paving over natural areas, or the forced mitigation of animals to their death. They are a prime visual example of the state of human nature as it stands, expendability of life.

Over the past two centuries and only enhanced by the birth of the Industrial Revolution, we have grown detached from that which surrounds us; detached from our food, each other, our place in the natural world, and life itself. We have trained ourselves to see no value in anything without a monetary symbol stamped. We have learned to devalue life by giving it a monetary value. We have accepted the destruction of life as a means to an end.

Now you know something’s seriously wrong with humanity when an agency can calculate the value of the life of an individual or ecosystem! In recent decades our addictive and entitled behavior has allowed the glamour of corporations to infiltrate almost every aspect of our daily lives. With each day it thrives and becomes a more unhealthy entity that is claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands in the United States and millions around the world. To see our conformation and encouragement you have to look no farther than the West Virginia residents near Blair Mountain Coal Plant or the New York residents living on the Marcellus shale or even in your local inner city where health disparities are a social norm.

The expendability of life has become a social norm. The gravity of our state of being is not felt widely rather by a selected few who choose to be morally conscious. Opposed to common perception, we are still bearing witness to our cultural dysfunction, entitlement, and expendability give license to enslavement and genocide. This cultural cancer needs to be STOPPED.

As unnecessary wars continue to wage, millions continue to die at the mercy of corporations, and life continues to depreciate in value, we are living in a state of injustice and immorality. It is time to demand more from those governing, corporations, and yourself. It is not acceptable to stand by on the sidelines silenced by your lack of will. It is time to rise up with responsibility for our personal actions and take accountability by changing the status quo. It’s time to assert that democracy is rising. It’s time to reconnect, to rebuild an appreciation of life so simply existing, and for less roadkill.

Ye Olde Manual Labor

By Lisa Purdy

We spent last week in Kingston, MA — a few miles north of Plymouth, the landing spot of the Pilgrims (of whom Marina is a descendant!). There’s a lot of history there. For instance, did you know that the Jones River is named after the captain of the Mayflower? And that in Plymouth Harbor there is the Mayflower II, a replica of the original given to the US in the 1960′s? Also, fun fact, Plymouth Rock is by now just a fraction of its original size, due to chunks chipped off, water fissures, and the slow process of erosion. Anyway, it was a very educational week!

We were helping out at the Jones River Landing, an organization that connects the people of Kingston to the Jones River by teaching kids how to build boats, hosting potlucks and bluegrass concerts, and snipping through the red tape in order to get rid of the dams that hash through the Jones River, one of the main sources of water and nutrients to the South Shore. The ponds and marshlands surrounding the Jones River were major nurseries for the fisheries of the Atlantic Ocean, until construction of concrete dams in place of temporary wooden ones diverted the water and affected the spawning habitat. But that’s where our contact Pine E. Dubois comes in! She is an enthusiastic, energetic woman who has got a finger on just about everything environmental in Kingston.

One of her projects is removing Phragmites Australis, an invasive species that was brought over from–you guessed it–Australia to New Jersey, and has made its unstoppable way up the coast. Below is a video of Mass Action working–that is, toiling away– with a volunteer and an employee to clear the land for the native reeds to come back in.

Lessons of Empathy from Milford

Post by: Ben Trolio

At the caf, getting a lovely lunch at the High Mowing school

Delectable food, the New Hampshire Green Coalition and a close knit community.  The combination of these three things during our week in Milford produced the type of experiences that will motivate me far past the end of this program.  From watering ten types of potatoes with Brad the potato master of the organic Nomadic Farms to explaining our program in front of a church packed with open minds, the New Hampshire Green Coalition had mapped out the perfect week for us.  On our last day, our team of sloths sat around the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Milford. The perfect ending to our packed week.  If you had talked to me during the early part of that lazy Sunday afternoon, I would have told you that our week of events could not get any better.   An hour later I would be proven dead wrong.

I meandered into the white walled room where the rest of our team is sitting. I have been summoned by Van and now I wanted to know why he had disturbed my peace on Sunday, MY DAY OFF.  Van was clutching the phone like it was a piece of garlic (Van arguably loves garlic way more than he loves talking or smiling or laughing) and was speaking animatedly. Now, I had been bitten by a bug named curiosity.   Van gushed “We would love to skype with Bill” and with those words my loftiest hope was confirmed.  We would be picking the brain of Bill Mckibben, one of the most prolific voices of the climate movement. Are you jealous yet?

Sunday brunch with Gail Denemark and the other members of the NH Green Coalition

In the aftermath of our wonderful conversation with Bill Mckibben, I was struck by some major revelations.   Ironically enough, these thoughts had nothing to do with the epic knowledge and words that Bill had just dropped on our collective heads.   The shining highlight of my day was the fact that Gail Denemark, a member of the New Hampshire Green Coalition had gone completely out of her way to set up our meeting with Bill Mckibben.  This single thoughtful act was representative of our entire week in Milford. The tremendous amount of hard work and care that the New Hampshire Green Coalition put into our week made our group feel wanted.  These actions inspired me to not only be a better activist but to treat people as if they were related by blood.  If our movement treated humanity the way our group was treated last week, we would see a stronger movement, we would have way too many friends and we would smile way too much.

George St. Hill Video

Sara and Eliza beasted the dreaded George!

Natural and Invasive

By Rayleigh Lei

Pulling Invasive Species from Spy Pond

In between our visit to the Bayside Restaurant and Sylvan Nursery, we had time to go visit a Mass Audubon field station. Americorps and SEEAL members were working together to pull invasive plants as we walked right in. Seeing them made me think back to a week earlier when we were doing the same thing, but on the banks of Spy Pond in Arlington.

It also reminded me of something else. In Lawrence, we visited Den Rock Park, which looks like any other forest even though it was clear cut twice. The park contained a pond/marsh that had dead trees sticking out here and there. The area used to be forested, but using dams, the beavers flooded the area, killing the trees. Many of them fell down soon after.

From this, one might say that it is futile to pull invasive plants. As it did for the forest in Lawrence, Nature will find some way to accommodate invasive plants and make it look “natural”; a whole new ecosystem based on these invasive species might be created. After all, the current local ecosystem depends on these native plants, which were invasive at one point. Plus, isn’t this the natural progression? Species that are a better fit for their environmental niche will outcompete their neighbors; because they proliferate, invasive species are probably the better fit.

One response might be that people doing this have a deep connection to their local environment; they notice the change and want to do something about it. It’s like picking up litter, only biological. Shouldn’t we applaud them for the work, as if they had picked up human trash?

It goes deeper than that. When we pick up the trash, we implicitly take responsibility for it even if it probably wasn’t our fault. Similarly, when we pull invasive species, we are taking responsibility for changing the ecosystem. Further, we also are trying to revert the ecosystem back to its original state, one that was more or less beneficial to us.

That is exactly what we’re trying to do by stopping climate change; we acknowledge our responsibility in causing it and want to preserve a climate that has allowed us to proliferate and become the dominant species. Climate change skeptics might argue that climate change is cyclical or Nature will take care of it, but can we wait so long for an uncertain future? After all, natural climate changes takes place over thousands, if not tens of thousands, years. In that amount of time, who knows what will be the dominant species. So, while there are ramifications to this decision, taking action against climate change is the one we can implement now and have the most control over.

Yet, does this address the concern taking action is unnatural? Environments change and accordingly force species to go extinct or evolve; one professor pointed out that by stopping climate change and preserving the current climate, we’re stopping evolution. We’re doing something similar by pulling invasive species, only that it’ll primarily affect a local ecosystem.

One answer among many is that the preservation of our species is paramount. All animals struggle to exist; it seems fair to assume that we can prioritize our species’ existence over others. In that way, we’re no different from the rest of nature; we’re like the beavers in Den Rock Park, changing/creating a habitat for ourselves so we can exist.

Are there other ways we act like the rest of Nature (in addition to the obvious)? In other words, to what extent are our actions and creations natural? When we pull invasive species, address climate change, or undertake other like actions, I hope we ponder this question.

MAssMovement Gets Gassy, Natural Gas That Is!

By: Maureen McCoy

Our week in Westport Point was full of hot weather, “beachin-it,” scenic views, and great people; if all that wasn’t enough, there was always a constant sense of community present.  On Thursday night, MAssMovement showed Gasland, to members of the community and we were forever changed by what we saw…

what a view

After a delicious pot luck dinner, we all sat down to watch the documentary, which was not only informative about the hazards of hydraulic fracturing, or “hydro fracking,” but also it was horrifying how people are supportive of a process that not only is destructive to the earth, but also to other human beings and animals. Seeing this documentary for the first time, saying I was shocked was a vast understatement, and it was clear from the expressions and statements after the movie that I was not the only one who felt this way.

In Gasland, the visual of residents turning on the tape and being able to set it on fire was enough to pull me into the narrative. The documentary follows a man who is contemplating leasing his land for a gas company to begin their process of hydro fracking, and what he finds is horrofying about the process companies go through for natural gas extraction. Along his journey, he discovers the vast injustice that surrounds the process of fracking which involves almost 600 chemicals (596 actually) in the fracking fluid which includes known carcinogens. If that’s not enough of an incentive to be opposed to the process, here’s more knowledge coming your way! Did you know there are antelope in the United States? If you answered yes, then I’m sorry to say you might be a nerd, but if you answered no, then take a deep breath because neither did I or most of the people in the room. These gas plants are not only being set up in the migration path of the antelope, but the existing plants are resulting in ill effects for other livestock and residents in a variety of states out west. The personal narratives of the residents affected by the fracking were so heart-wrenching, they brought tears to the eyes of some people watching the movie, and posed the question to me of how? How can people support a process that is literally killing other people and animals? That might be my naive side where are kind and good, because that is all I have experienced in my lifetime. However, seeing this documentary really bothered me and it makes me want to not only save all the cute animals but do something to help people that are affected by this disgusting process, as well as fight for others in danger of being exposed to this.  What will I be doing to help you ask? Well I have no idea yet but keep your eyes and ears opened for future mentioning’s of my name because as sure as I’m able to ride a bike, well that’s questionable considering the amount of times I almost ran off the road this summer, as sure as I’m standing I am going to do something that will help other people.

Being from central New York, this is a pressing issue because my community will possibly be affected by the hydro fracking. Currently, there is a moratorium on the proposed extraction process but who knows how long that will hold out before the big industries get their way with our government. This might come across as strong but if you’re questioning why I feel so strongly about this, or if you are in support of a process that is obliterating our world and the people living in it, I encourage you to watch the documentary Gasland. This laid out the facts in black and white in a way that is impossible to dispute, and it was shown in the movie how there is no better time to become aware of the current issue than right now. Maybe if more people are aware of the dangers which surround the natural gas extraction, then the inhumane treatment of people, animals, and our earth could stop. Okay, so there is a glimpse into my deeper side, now to end on a funny note, here is a glorious picture of this one time when Lauren and I stopped into a costume shop so enjoy.

this one time Lauren was Spongebob