Folks are getting angry about global warming. Just take a look at this video from September, in which hundreds of attractive Swiss people — wearing matching slippers — laid their bare bums on a glacier to show their government they mean business when it comes to carbon emissions.
(“What seems hard, is not,” one activist said. “It’s slowly shrinking, slowly melting.”)
So I wasn’t surprised to hear, last week, that kids were jumping into the fray — of climate protest. Earlier this month, a few dozens elementary-age students from the Aurora School in Middlebury held a march to raise awareness about global warming. Some, reports one supportive mother, dressed up as “environmental issue[s] or solution[s]” — for example, a compact-florescent light bulb. Towards the end of the day, about 40 handmade nylon bags were distributed to encourage conscientious shopping.
Here’s a snapshot from a speech that was delivered from the steps of a building on the Middlebury College campus, from Gloria Estela González.
Too bad Vermont legislators didn’t attend. Back in January, a few of them introduced a bill that would impose a tax on plastic bags. But judging from the state’s bill-status page, it will likely die in committee.
This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2008.
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