Crossroads Rally in Albany (June 17th)

Picture courtesy of: http://renewnrg.blogspot.com/2013/05/rally-in-albany-against-fracking-and.html

This was the promotion sign for the rally, dubbed New York Crossroads, that I attended in Albany today, right on the lawn and stairs of the capitol building.  To me, the message of the sign is simple. We have a choice in front of us to make, and it needs to be made now. We have reached the fork in the road. Do we pick dirty energy, fossil fuels, and environmental destruction (which in turn destroys us), or do we choose clean, green energy that will sustain us and our planet for an indefinite amount of time? To me, the choice seems obvious. But if it's as obvious as I think it is, I guess I wouldn't have been rallying in Albany earlier today.

 

Albany's Capitol Building

Suggested Reading & Activism Spotlight: 350.org

Suggested Reading

In the near future, I will be discussing on Viridorari how the average citizen with a passion for the environment can make their voice heard in the government. As many of you know, I recently went to a program in Albany called Students Inside Albany, where I learned about lobbying and how to do it, along with how New York State politics work. I was fortunate enough to get a view of what really goes on inside the capitol.

The organization that sent me on this trip, the League of Women Voters, has a fantastic slogan: "Democracy is not a spectator sport." Too often, we mumble and groan about the issues in our country, but how many of us actually do something about it? Our first amendment right entails us to the freedom of speech, and you can use that right to make yourself heard in the government. Do you have an opinion on fracking? Pollution? The Keystone XL Pipeline? The availability of renewable energy? Okay, but does your area representative know what your opinions on those subjects are? If you haven't told him or her your ideas, chances are your representative is not psychic and does not know what you think. 

Harsh Facts & Ecofriendly Economics: Unplug Your Electronics

Harsh Facts of the Week

Almost 90% of all floating materials in the ocean are plastic. Plastic is an extremely harmful pollutant because it does not readily break down in environments. 

Marine debris, most notably plastic, kills more than one million seabirds and 100,000 mammals and sea turtles every year. 

Studies done in the North Sea revealed that a type of seagull called fulmars averaged thirty pieces of plastic in their stomachs. 

300,000 dolphins, whales and porpoises die each year after becoming entangled in fishing nets. 

Between fifty and sixty million tons of untreated municipal waste is disposed from China's coastal cities every day. 

Oil is deteriorating the quality of the ocean but only 12% of it comes from oil spills. The rest enters the oceans through runoff and drains.

Do you live in a coastal area? How much waste build up do you notice along your coast and in the water? What contributes to that? I encourage you to find out how and why your local waters are being polluted, and then to do something about it. I'm currently at a political program in my state's capital, Albany, and I've been learning a lot about lobbying and how to do it. I hope to write about lobbying or introduce a Guest Writer who is a lobbyist so that ordinary, environmentally concerned viewers, like you can learn how to make your voice heard in the government.

A dump in Alaska

Picture courtesy of: http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/ocean-pollution/#/alaska-dump_46_600x450.jpg