Sleep out for climate change

By KAIA ZIMMERMAN

Published on February 19, 2010

Melting glaciers in the Arctic, increased forest fires in Mexico, rising sea levels in Bermuda and extreme heat waves in Florida: It's becoming increasingly hard to argue against the evidence of global climate change, and yet, the problem seems so monumental that it can be difficult to know how to help.

Lucky for us here in Massachusetts, many concerned groups and citizens have already taken action. One of these is a student-led coalition called The Leadership Campaign, a group comprised of Students for a Just and Stable future, the Massachusetts Council of Churches and the Massachusetts Climate Action Network. Together, they are working to get the state of Massachusetts powered by 100 percent clean energy by 2020. The Leadership Campaign recently got a bill introduced into the state Legislature, which, if passed, will require the state to set up an emergency task force to aid in the re-powering process.

This transition to clean energy would, of course, require a major shift in the state's current economic system, but the Leadership Campaign has a solid outline for how this new economy might look.

Ultimately, the Leadership Campaign would like to see the following steps take place during the transition:

1) The implementation of a "green checks" system, in which the state government would provide monthly rebates to residents and businesses. This money would come from taxes placed on the production of fossil fuels in Massachusetts and from the transport of fossil fuels into the state. Eventually, it would even the playing field between the cost of fossil fuels and renewable energy sources.

2) In the words of the Leadership Campaign's Web page, the state should "provide state-backed green jobs bonds to retrofit every building in the state and finance renewable energy."

3) Finally, the state should promote clean air, green cars and a smart grid funded by antiquated system upgrade fees.

While the campaign spends a fair amount of time working on politics and logistics, members also understand that no matter how convincing their plan might be, if the people of the state aren't completely invested in the movement, their goals will not be achieved. One tactic the campaign uses that gets attention from residents is the "sleep out."

The purpose of a sleep out for those working with the Leadership Campaign is to take responsibility for the dirty energy that powers their homes (and universities). By sleeping out, they hope to express their readiness for a clean energy future, and to show their solidarity with the "thousands of climate refugees that are involuntarily homeless, and the hundreds of millions more who will soon be joining them."

On Saturday, the Leadership Campaign will host one of these sleep outs on the Amherst Town Common. Any interested or concerned citizens are more-than-welcome to participate in the festivities, which will include live music, letter writing and speakers (as well as the actual sleeping out). In the past, they've had prominent supporters such as James Hansen (leading NASA climate scientist) and Bill McKibben (climate activist and founder of www.350.org) join them for the sleep outs. They are still waiting to hear who will be speaking on the 20th, but no matter, there will be plenty of activities between 3 p.m. and 9 a.m. the next morning.

The outcome of the climate conference in Copenhagen this December was a complete disappointment. We Massachusetts residents must continue to press our political leaders until they show us they can take real responsibility in helping to create a sustainable future. Let's show our leaders we won't accept anything less than 100 percent clean electricity.

Kaia Zimmerman is an Amherst Regional High School senior from Amherst.