Last summer, I sat in the Town Hall in Merrill, Maine listening to the Town Clerk cry over the town not having enough money for road salt this winter; the town had no way to get the money, since they couldn’t raise taxes with such a depressed economy. The Clerk made it clear to me why she was so upset – she was afraid that one of her friends’ children will skid off a slick road and hit a tree.
The economy is so bad, there is not enough money for road salt. They don’t have enough money to protect their children?
I had to think: How can I help this woman?
Last week, traveling through Stony Point, New York, a friend and partner in Emergent told me that the local gypsum factory, an employer of hundreds of citizens in that small community on the Hudson River, is closing. This town is 30 miles north of Manhattan. Oil and electric prices have risen so high that the company is moving out of the state. The people of Stony Point will now have to pay twice the taxes to support the essential services in the community.
Similarly, only one year ago the large, coal-fired Lovett Power Plant was forced to shutter its doors by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – the plant was putting too much mercury and soot in the air in Stony Point. Mirant, the owner of the coal power plant, sued the town over taxes. . . and they won in state Supreme Court. The town and the local school district owed the coal power plant $300 Million. Taxes for residents in Stony Point quadrupled. And, now you can see hundreds of “For Sale” signs and dark windows (lost to bank foreclosure) all throughout the town.
While driving through Stony Point, I asked myself, when will oil be so scarce and so expensive that I can’t afford to drive my car to the grocery store? Can climate change flood this inland community? Or, when will the world economy be so bad that the only way to make competitively priced goods is to disregard human rights? Wait, isn’t this already happening?
I imagine if you’re reading this you’ve asked yourself the same questions before.
We’ve all heard of the factory worker being laid off, the farmer forced to sell his land to suburban developers, or the little boy that gets lung cancer from a coal power plant. The USDA says we can’t eat more than a pound of fish, any fish, per week – or we risk getting poisoned by mercury from coal power plant smoke stacks.
We feel empathy for the victims of unsustainable capitalism. We wish there was something we could do to ease their hardship and give these people hope for a better tomorrow.
As we feel sorry for other victims, we fear to even ask: Can this, or even when will this happen to me or my town?
Before, we had stood powerless to the economic and political forces at hand. But right now, in this precarious moment in our society’s history, with our unlimited access to information and our unyielding desire for change, we stand well-suited to really help the resident of the next Stony Point, New York, or the Town Clerk of the next Merrill, Maine.
By reading and writing this now, we have already won the first step in this fight for change – for real social, economic, and environmental sustainability. With a few mouse clicks we can build an army, a movement to educate those struggling communities and community leaders: There are ways to get out of this mess! There are ways to build a healthier community!
All we have to do is spread the word.
This word:
Sustainability.
Emergent helps communities sustainably prosper into the future. We absolutely need your help.
• We need to know when the factory at the end of your street is having trouble and jobs are at stake.
• We need to know when your school district is considering laying off 30 teachers.
• We need to know when the lumber company on the outskirts of town is considering selling out to a strip coal mining company.
• We need to know when Super Walmart wants to come into your town and tear down what’s left of your downtown for it’s parking lot.
• We need to know when your school is faced with either cutting after school programs or dismantling the music department.
• We need to know when your favorite vegetable farmer in town is having trouble paying the bills or his taxes.
We need to know these things because we can only be in so many places at one time. We don’t know your community, but you do.
You know your community, your neighbors, your town, and your friends.
Keep your eyes open. Keep your eyes peeled for people and organizations, who are just barely making it by, just barely paying their bills. These vulnerable folks have the opportunity to thrive by sustainably harnessing the natural resources they already own, with what’s already in their backyard. That’s wind, water, sun, trees, soil, and even trash. That’s motivated community members who want to join a cause.
Once you identify someone, or an entire community that needs help – and they are willing to listen and learn – give us a shout-out! Join our Posse! We can help you help them. So let’s get started with this movement.
