Last weekend, a friend of a friend who teaches environmental policy at a local university told us how his students are obsessed with footprints -- the environmental kind. "They work so hard," he said, "to 'shrink their footprint' by conserving energy, eating locally, or whatever. And I keep telling them that, no matter what they do, they still are going to use far more resources than most of the world. What they really need to worry about is what they do with that footprint. Are they using it to change the world for the better, or are they just taking up an admirably modest amount of space?"
I actually think it's great that young people care about how their lifestyle affects the planet, but I see his point. By now it's obvious that the planet needs more than consideration. It needs champions. It's time for folks to show up and step up -- like 400,000 did last year at the People's Climate March in New York City.
Your next big chance to do that will be Wednesday, October 14, at a National Day of Action based on the same principles as the People's Climate March. Six weeks before the international climate talks in Paris, climate justice, labor, faith-based, and environmental advocates will come together at events around the country to show the world that Americans are serious about climate action.
That means showing our support for a Clean Power Plan that will not only reduce climate pollution but also create good local clean-energy jobs, improve local economies, and help to end the cycle of economic and environmental injustice. It also means building a nationwide people's movement to transition our nation to a clean energy economy -- one that's fair for workers and improves all of our lives and health.
So, if you want to know you did more than take up a modest of amount of space on this beautiful planet of ours, be sure to join us on October 14.
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