Earth Day

Other Outside the Walls blogs can be accessed in Archives at right.  (This is the 9th blog in April 2020.)

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Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.  There is a great plenty to focus our thoughts this day, and all those to follow.

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A few years ago a good friend volunteered at the COP21 climate conference in Paris, France.  Some months later, I got a surprise gift: the booklet was one not to be wasted.  All the 50 or so pages were identical to the cover which is pictured below.

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Recently, I came across a photo I took at a Demonstration in Minneapolis in March, 2007.  The photo speaks for itself:

March 2007, Loring Park Minneapolis

The two illustrations, along with their stories and the devastating pandemic in which we are all immersed at this moment in our history basically speak for themselves, and there are no words that I can add that will amplify their message.

Here is an article about Earth Day, April 22, 2020.

Here is a report on COP21, Paris, 2015.

Perhaps the COVID-19 pandemic will move us off of whatever blocks us from our own individual positive action.

The earth and its inhabitants needs audience participation.  This is not just for reluctant or resistant leaders; this is for us.

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Speaking of “us”, there is the matter of power, which we seem to deny to ourselves, even in a democracy like ours, where the people still possess the power of the vote…if they decide to exercise that power in an informed way.

Humanity, and other species, seems to adopt the Pyramid model of leadership.  Somebody ends up on top of the pile; the rest of us sort out at different levels.  Ambitious ones seek out a higher level, and often overreach (think “The Peter Principle“).  Others choose to under-reach, to go with the flow, which is no more helpful.

I’m now 20 years retired.  My heroes are the unsung individuals who are “on the court” making whatever difference they can, where they live, every day.  We each have a role.

My hero, this Earth Day, is the youngster I saw at a climate demonstration at the state capitol in St. Paul on Sep. 20.  He’s pictured below.  I overheard him ask his Mom about making his own sign, and he had some scrap of paper from her purse on which he’d done his own scribbles.  I don’t know his name, or hers.  I don’t know what ended up on his ‘sign’.  He was an activist, and I hope in some small ways to be like him, day to day.

POSTNOTE:  Each of us, I reckon, have our own favored groups and causes.  In the area of environment, one of my favorites is Fresh Energy, which in my view is doing great good in encouraging positive change.

Just yesterday, a new group was announced by former Presidential candidate and Secretary of State John Kerry.  It’s name WorldWarZero; and it has a most impressive group of co-founders, movers and shakers .  Check it out.  I enrolled, and, yes, it asks for a donation.  Check it out today.

We all can make a big difference.