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| April 2009 Volume 3, No. 8 |
Celebrating Earth Day: Messages in Honor of Our Planet
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by Johnny Brinkworth
Discourse on Kentucky’s energy future inevitably has to confront the social and political factions swirling around the coalfields of Appalachia. Never in the history of Kentucky has there been so much exploitation and damage to its natural environment as we experience today: polluted streams, timbered forests and pillaged mountains. In the past, to be a coal miner was a way of life in the Cumberland Plateau. Today, most miners are contracted from out of state and the money disappears from Kentucky as fast as the coal. Contrary to popular belief, the people of Appalachia are not consenting victims. Rather, there exists a sense of independence and a real effort to preserve the cultural and biological heritage of the region.
My great-grandfather was a miner on Black Mountain. My grandfather grew up in the puncheon-floored, coal camps of Harlan County, and he was witness to the infamous events of Bloody Harlan on his walks home from school. This was a time when the real policies of the plateau were driven by the strength of the Progressive Mine Workers and United Mine Workers of America. Order was maintained with the “John L. Lewis Peacemaker,” also known as the Smith and Wesson Pistol. Since then, the only real change that has occurred is the efficiency with which the coal can be extracted: mountaintop removal. The trade-off is a decrease in regional economy, the destruction of entire mountaintops, the loss of biodiversity, the burying of streams, and poisoned water wells, to name a few.
Wendell Berry maintains that “the response that is called for is not a vision of a better future, but instead an increase of consciousness and critical judgment in the present.” Critical judgment can only be cultivated with meaningful education. As an educator, it is imperative that our students understand and grapple with how our energy is harvested. This education is not lovely or appealing; it is mandatory! In order for our students to be able to make responsible decisions with respect to energy use, they must be armed with real knowledge about the state of our region. This includes, but is not limited to, the history of coal mining, an awareness of the social and political issues surrounding energy use, where it comes from, how it is synthesized, why we use it, how increasing demand for energy exacerbates the problems and most importantly, the solutions and alternatives to the use of coal. An appreciation of Kentucky’s cultural, natural and historical beauty can be developed through sound awareness and conscious education. Hope for the future lies in the present of now.
Johnny Brinkworth is a science teacher at Stuart Middle School.
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by Marsha Buerger
Small, everyday decisions do make a difference! People often say, “I am only one person, what does it matter”? And this question has been hard to answer! It is difficult to believe that turning off the lights, lowering the thermostat, recycling, etc. have a meaningful impact on the future of the Earth. This has been the theme of many environmental discussions over the years. You hope you are making a difference but it has been difficult to see or prove it to yourself much less to anyone else. And yet….so many have persevered.
This perseverance has paid off in a big way. The “Hundredth Monkey” is a theory that posits that when enough individuals in a population adopt a new idea or behavior, an ideological breakthrough occurs that allows this new awareness to permeate through an entire population. Even though this idea is controversial, I believe that what is currently happening in the world is a perfect example of this theory. The environmentalists have been pounding the drum; discussing, researching, publishing, teaching all under difficult circumstances. But now, it is the “in” thing to be environmentally aware, and the “green” industry is growing and environmental jobs are exploding. There has been a paradigm shift and just in the nick of time.
I experienced this shift recently at my school. We completed a unit that explored the increasing dependence of the United States and Kentucky on coal for our energy needs. The students watched the video by David Novack, “Burning the Future” and then researched and debated the conflicting needs for energy, jobs, and the devastating consequences of mountain top removal for coal extraction to the people and land of Appalachia. The students brought their own backgrounds and feelings into the debates and had different ideas and priorities for their positions. But all had a profound understanding that something had to be done for the long-term survival of themselves and the Earth. The students then completed Powerpoints that presented their research into alternative energy sources. Not one student felt that we could delay in funding the development of these resources and that “clean coal” was a misnomer to keep people ignorant of the real consequences of mining and burning coal.
With the new acceptance of the importance of our personal actions on the environment and the health of the Earth, it is time to take this paradigm shift one step further. People in all walks of life must expand their knowledge and involvement in the creation of permanent solutions to the costs of continued reliance on not only foreign oil but also on “cheap, clean” coal that is found in Kentucky’s unique and profoundly beautiful Appalachian Mountains. These mountains are not renewable. These mountains are the home of people, plants and animals. We must continue pounding the drum of change and believe in the power of that hundredth monkey to bring a final healthy and secure future for us all.
Marsha Buerger is a 7th grade science teacher at Farnsley Middle School.
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by Aukram Burton
Addiction and dependence on fossil fuel is one of the greatest challenges the world faces today. This dependency is threatening the national security of nations around the world due to the severe climate changes caused by an increase of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have ascertained that we must limit CO2 concentrations to 350 parts per million (ppm) or less. Prior to the industrial age, CO2 concentrations were 275 ppm and currently CO2 concentrations are at 387 ppm. The high concentration of CO2 is causing the severe climate change threatening our planet and its economic health.
As a result of climate change, the polar ice caps are shrinking causing sea levels to rise; extreme weather is wreaking havoc across the globe; droughts are becoming more severe, tropical diseases are migrating north and numerous species are being threatened with extinction. Every human being will need to do his or her part in insuring that this cycle of catastrophic events is reversed. The key to this reversal will be our ability to create sustainable energy use that will reduce our dependency on fossil fuels thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In order to meet this challenge, we need to take immediate action and begin organizing in our local communities around long-range solutions that will move toward a sustainable energy future. Achieving this goal will require collaborative efforts between student activists, young and old, together with political, business and education leaders in our local communities.
On February 5, 2009 over 200 people attended the National Teach-in on Climate Warming at the University of Louisville (UofL). At the beginning of the first 100 days of President Obama’s administration, the National Teach-in on Global Warming engaged over a million students, education, political and business leaders to educate and motivate citizens in Metro Louisville to take action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Nationally, over a million people attended workshops, lectures and conferences to address the scientific and local impact of the nation's changing climate (see http://www.nationalteachin.org/).
The Teach-in was organized by UofL’s Sustainability Committee in collaboration with a cross-section of organizations throughout Metro Louisville, such as:
-- The Partnership for a Green City (UofL, JCPS, & Metro Government)
-- Louisville Climate Action Network
-- Sustainable Louisville
-- U of L’ s Student Government Association
A full day of presentations and panel discussions included, local politicians, scientists, social scientists, urban planners, medical professionals, engineers, and environmental educators and activists. UofL’s President James Ramsey opened the Teach-in and then local politicians, governmental and business leaders shared their comments.
The following are some of the topics that were addressed during the Teach-in:
-- sustainability activities in Louisville
-- implications of global warming
-- potential solutions and actions needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
-- political and international aspects of global warming
-- locally grown food by from Farm to Fork
-- hands-on learning activities about climate change
-- conducting an energy audit
Participants of the Teach-in ate lunch that was made from locally grown food. After lunch, participants choose to take walking tours of UofL’s Chill and Steam Plant to determine the Carbon Sequestration in UofL’s Trees and to review UofL’s Solar Energy Systems.
The National Teach-in at UofL provides a shining example of the type of collaboration and leadership needed in local communities to address our dependency on fossil fuels and their impact on global climate warming. The on-going collaborations in the Metro Louisville area for the last five years also provides a model for other municipalities throughout Kentucky on how to educate and to take action to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.
To learn more about the National Teach-in on Climate Warming and what you can do to take action, you can view some video clips that I produced on YouTube at the following links:
Part 1: President James Ramsey speaks during the National Teach-in on Climate Warming at UofL.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9bkk2SpMak
The full text of the Presidents speech can be found at: http://louisville.edu/president/fromthepresident/globalwarmingremarks020509.html
Part 2: Teach-in on Climate Warming at UofL
Rachel Connolly, Director of the Rauch Planetarium at UofL, and Keith Mountain, Associate Professor of Geography/Geosciences at U of L, speak on Climate Warming at the University of Louisville. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wObyPj6xp_E
Part 3: Teach-in on Climate Warming at UofL
Rachel Connolly, Director of the Rauch Planetarium at UofL, and Keith Mountain, Associate Professor of Geography/Geosciences at UofL, speak on Climate Warming.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nrYDbJ9Idk
Part 4: Teach-in on Climate Warming at UofL
David Tandy, President of Metro Louisville City Council, speaks on Climate
Warming.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwrgI-wmKdA
Part 5: Teach-in on Climate Warming at UofL
Brent Fryrear, Director, Partnership for a Green City, speaks on Climate Warming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXmWZLyOHP8
Part 6: Teach-in on Climate Warming at UofL
Sarah Lynn Cunningham, Director, Louisville Climate Action Network, speaks on Climate Warming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPtVIxXpG10
Aukram Burton is the diversity/multicultural education specialist with the JCPS Department of Diversity, Equity and Poverty Issues.
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by Nefertiti Burton
I’m inspired by Van Jones and his leadership in raising awareness of the need to bring green jobs to African American and Latino communities as well as other economically challenged communities in our country. Mr. Jones is the former CEO of Green For All. When asked “What's the best way to give Americans of all socioeconomic backgrounds a tangible stake in fighting for issues like global warming?” he answers, “Easy: Make it their livelihood.”
The reigning myth of “green” as a “bourgeois” or “hippy” or “white” concern is easily dispelled once “green” means not only protecting the environment, but creating jobs that pay a living wage. From Newark, NJ to Los Angeles, CA, African American and Latino youth are participating in paid training programs that teach urban agriculture, weatherizing of homes and public buildings, and energy auditing. These are some of the skills that are critical to the development of sustainable communities and sustainable jobs that can lead to fulfilling careers in a new industry.
Louisville has already shown itself a national leader with its Partnership for a Green City. Now, Metro government, local corporations, and educational institutions have the opportunity to collaborate on impacting the lives of our young people by training them for employment in the "green job market."
The timing is perfect as President Obama’s stimulus package contains funding that may be used in such efforts, and Van Jones has been appointed Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
So Move It, Louisville! We don’t have a moment to lose!
Nefertiti Burton is an associate professor in the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Louisville.
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by Maria Cissell Clemons
I know a girl who has the good fortune of having a tree for a friend. How long “Stevie” has been a friend is hard to pin point. It was some time after the age when she was naming things by their obvious attributes; Pretty Hill and Dead Deer Field, places she designated while Pink Soft Baby was tucked under her arm on the hikes with her mother over the hundreds of acres beyond their own small farm. Stevie came after that when names became disassociated with how they looked and became who she admired. Stevie is someone strong and clever and bright and her Oak tree is aptly named.
Stevie lives at the edge of a small wooded area that slopes toward a creek and is flanked by fields alternately planted with soy beans, alfalfa and corn. She is perched on an embankment, her roots twisting and poking out from the eroded bank to make cradles and shelves where the girl places leaf and stone dishes or perches as a queen upon her throne. As she plays under the cool canopy of Stevie’s branches the girl builds bridges and damns from creek stones, practices tight rope walking across fallen trees, or takes her dogs creek-walking on the path of stone and water. Stevie is at the epicenter of all her imaginings and the reference point she gives when she calls to her mother, “I’m taking the dogs to Stevie.”
So, what is the good fortune of a tree for a friend? I believe Stevie represents hope in a similar way that President Barack Obama represented change. Our nation has now elected our first African American president and the scope of this progress is marked along a continuum with referent points for key events in the Civil Rights movements, Brown vs. the Board of Education, desegregation, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the March on Washington, Bill Cosby and the Jeffersons. The changes in linguistics and the changes in thinking and actions that lead to this evolution are calibrated along a timeline to our present day. And just as these events were unfolding on the national landscape, within our classrooms on a very personal level children of different races were beginning to learn together in integrated classrooms.
A similar course has been unfolding environmentally with plotted points of landmark works; the writings of John Muir and Anne Dillard, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the first Earth Day celebration, the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," the call for renewable energies and environmentally-conscious decision that require reducing, reusing, and recycling.
Having a tree for a friend taps only the energy of the human spirit and human creativity, true renewable energy sources. Perhaps integrating children with the outdoors, realizing their interconnectedness, and unleashing themselves from their dependence on technologies could have the same altering effects on our environment as children sitting side by side in public schools did for our nation.
Maria Cissell Clemons is the principal of Kerrick Elementary School.
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Global Connections: Staying in Touch with Culture and Environment is a monthly publication of the JCPS Office of Equity, Diversity and Multicultural Education and the JCPS Center for Environmental Education. All submissions to the newsletter must be sent to Catherine Collesano, Editor, at catherine.collesano@jefferson.kyschools.us or fax (502) 485-3762 the Monday before the publication date. If you are interested in becoming a subscriber or a contributor to Global Connections, please contact the editor at the above email address.
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