Power, Empowerment, and Earthworms (Happy Earth Day)

Image from absolutebodo.com

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
-Alice Walker
Today is April 22, 2014, or Earth Day, as some people might realize only after looking at their calendars. Founded in the United States, Earth Day commemorates what was the start, according to many, of the environmental movement in 1970. The Green Cities Campaign attributes Earth Day to sparking the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and to leading to the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. Now more than ever, as we continue to trash the planet for every last drop of oil and every last dollar we can make, the messages of Earth Day desperately call for our attention. And yet, many within the environmental movement are developing a bitter desperation that reflects the indomitability of capitalism that has infected the hearts of so many people who believe there is nothing they can do that will help.

 
While the principles of Earth Day are still urgent, arguably even more so than when it began, the levels of enthusiasm have dropped, making it more of a commemoration of awareness than of action. And while awareness is crucial to create any kind of change, on its own it makes the Earth little more than a charity case at which people throw their money on a designated day. It becomes someone else’s problem and  a way for donators to feel better about their own lifestyles. While many of us who know that the consequences of approving the Keystone XL pipeline will be much more than just “an earthworm will be displaced,” as Sarah Palin so condescendingly put it, the opposition is not enough to stop it from being approved in the South. It is necessary for us to make personal changes to support the environment,but it is even more important to focus our efforts on removing our support from the corporations and the governments seeking to profit from these endeavors.

According to Palin, “That earthworm, it can take one for the team.” But it can’t anymore. The earth has been exploited for too long. Capitalism has to make room for environmentalism because growth is not profitable if it is unsustainable. The sense of helplessness against the corporations is too great when people don’t realize that their consumerism is contributing to the problem. The awareness spread by Earth Day is not comprehensive enough to make people feel like they have power in the situation. Taking shorter showers and carpooling is a fantastic start, but ultimately, it’s capitalism we have to target if we want to create any real change. Change is a process, it cannot be accomplished on one day out of the year, and it is important to see ourselves as responsible for our own actions. Awareness is great, but real action is what leads to improvement. This Earth Day, let’s remember power belongs to the people,not the energy companies, and it’s up to us to claim it.

Kristen Sibbald

Staff Blogger Scr ’17