Archive - May 29, 2009

By 1Sky interns Florencia Foxley and Emma Fernandez, soon-to-be graduates of Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. Thanks for your hard work! -- Luis

Today is our last day as interns at 1Sky. Over the past four weeks, we’ve had a lot of fun and learned a lot about running a grassroots environmental campaign. Among other things, we prepared spreadsheets, sat in on staff meetings, and called people across the country.

I keep wracking my brains with getting members of Congress -- and really, how to get all Americans -- active on helping to pollute less and diminish the climate crisis. Before I came to 1Sky, I was like most people in what I call the "mushy middle." I knew about the climate crisis, and yet, I was not motivated to act beyond changing my own behavior. Now I can’t understand why there are not riots in the streets demanding that we limit carbon emissions.

I have an idea: if we could bring some people from the islands that are likely to be under water first (like the Maldives) and get them to lobby Congress, then maybe Congress will understand? Something about meeting victims tends to move people in a way that statistics and graphs and pictures of icebergs melting do not.