By Sue Edwards
Kevin Little, who describes himself as an urban Afro-American educator, has been volunteering with the Sierra Club for several years and is a member of the SPG Executive Committee.
Sue Edwards is a member of the SPG Executive Committee in addition to being Chapter Delegate to the PA Executive Committee. She has been volunteering with the Sierra Club since 2010.
[S] Hi Kevin, I've seen you in action with the veterans [you showed environmental films to]. You'd say to them “Watch this; it's gonna be on the quiz. And they got really into it and did their best...You were determined to let them know what's going on with the environment. What has kept you interested in staying involved with an environmental organization like the Sierra Club?
[K] I see the importance of the issue. To paraphrase Al Gore, it's the most important there is: To preserve the world and keep it a little bit less polluted...Like Barack Obama said, he wanted to leave the world for his children and grandchildren. It's really just that important.
[S] I think back to when I was a Girl Scout, and the message was “leave a place better than you found it.”
[K] Oh, absolutely! The scientists are always trying to test a hypothesis in someone's research. And what that meant at the University of Pennsylvania was challenging a tenured professor. That's about as influential as you can get, but that's what science is, you always question. Everyone needs to take a hard look and question if global warming really is a hoax. At the Horticultural Society... they're talking about planting their garden boxes and they came up with the climate of this region has changed
[K] I try to be very real with my students, and the question was “What types of jobs do you see for people who have spent time in jail for violent crimes and have served their time and been released, what types of jobs do you [see] them doing?” And some of my students came up with things, but I suggested fixing solar panels way up on roofs. Also working on wind turbines... Van Jones wrote a book called The Green Economy , and the whole thing is, there's work to be done on issues in the city. Decentralized solar is really a fantastic idea... When the power goes out, you can have a decentralized grid with lots of rooftop solar panels, and the power's not going to go out everywhere. You've got a lot of people living in places like north Philadelphia, you've got a lot of rooftops....Letting people know the environmental movement is not just about people who love trees, not just about polar bears, not about people who can afford a new Prius or a new Tesla for that matter. It's about trying to make the issue real to people who live in underserved areas, often called the inner city.
[S] The Sierra Club has done work on the connection between global warming and asthma—you know, the warmer the planet gets, the more pollen, the more ozone, the more asthma there is. In Philadelphia the children's asthma rates are really high. It's not polar bears.
[K] No it's not, and if you talk to anybody who has taught in Philadelphia, it's frightening, and it's an issue that you just cannot ignore.
[S] Yeah, there was a 6th grader in Philadelphia who died of asthma. It's real, you can die of asthma.
[K] I like to think of the time I went to an EPA hearing, and I testified for the Sierra Club. I heard a lady testify that on her street, diesel trucks came through on their way to I-95. She shared that all of the windows were covered with soot and all of the children on the block had asthma. I think of issues that I've heard being pushed at Sierra Club meetings, like “How about electric buses, how about some routes being designated Electric Only because of the risk to children?” I look at diesel fumes and realize just how much more toxic they are than gasoline.
[S] And now SEPTA wants to build a power plant in Nicetown, which already has plenty of pollution. I know that environmentalists have been fighting that tooth and nail and I don't know if they're going to be successful. There are more fossil fuels being added rather than undoing them.
There's the Solarize movement...and people realized, “Look, people without a lot of resources can't take part in that.” And now there is a Solarize Philly component for people of low income.
[K] The thing I like about that is it makes sense economically...to build solar panels in the United States, and they have to be installed here. It's a win-win.
[S] The jobs can't be outsourced.
[K] Yeah.
[S] Is there a question you'd like me to ask you?
[K] I'd like to see more things that are done with youth, more things with people of color. But I know Sierra Club is working on that.
[S] Do you see a role you could play in that?
[K] It would be nice, it's a dream I had, to have groups of students walking city streets in the summer, watering trees, checking on the health of trees—in large, large, large numbers. Because a lot of times parents want to know their children have something to do, the children could earn some money....I also know that when people work together, great things can happen. People get connected. Any excuse for people to work together is good. I see a lot of caring people in the Sierra Club. I'm confident that when people get together to save the environment and help their neighbor, it won't be a big stretch.
[S] I think you model that. You're very friendly and show up and volunteer, taking leadership. We need to clone you.
[K] I will say that the people I've met in the Sierra Club are very dedicated to changing things. A lot of people are very isolated. People in some of the more impoverished neighborhoods would do well to find people as dedicated.
[S] Do you have any advice for the Sierra Club about retention of volunteers, to make people feel welcome and help them make a connection, anything along those lines?
[K] You've done this with me. There have been times when I was really busy, but you always welcomed me back. I've realized how important this work is, and that's why I'm still involved.
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