Citizens need to stand up against powerful interests to advocate for the environment

A lot of things have brought us to the conclusion that citizens need to stand up against powerful interests to advocate for the environment, from demonstrating against the Vietnam war to being members of Quaker Earthcare Witness to thinking about our children’s and grandchildren’s future. We garden and plant trees, Art serves on the Board of Directors for the Cambridge Friends School, and is working to integrate “deep ecology” into their curriculum. We support Environment Massachusetts because of Ben’s and the group’s capacity to get down to the root of the clean energy challenge in communities across the state. They’re making headway with effective legislative initiatives, solid data and hard work. They’re a local effort that doesn’t feel like a cumbersome, expensive-overhead operation. If the environmental winds shift nationally, they could be very helpful in drafting new policy aligned with deep ecology principles.