Tonight at Power Shift, as Congressman Ed Markey stood before us inciting us to support the proposed Energy Bill, a few of us began chanting “We want more, we want more.” Congressman Markey stopped short to listen. We chanted for a full minute with a fervor, intensity and volume that left me light-headed, hoarse and thoroughly invigorated. As we chanted, for the first time, I felt an almost painful desire for the future we want to see.
Following Evon Peter’s words about needing to rediscover our humanity and understand our role in the life-systems all around us, it became obvious to me that we were talking about more than just the Energy Bill. We want more.
We don’t just want policy fixes, or simply a change in leadership in the White House. Higher fuel economy standards, or 80% emissions reduction by the year 2050. This movement is about more than just politics. This movement is about more than just supporting clean energy sources. This movement is about recognizing the patterns of consumption, patterns of thought, patterns of behavior that have led to the social ills we see today. It’s about rediscovering the value of our resources, the value of our neighbors, the value of life on this planet.
Inspired by this first chant of the night, Congressman Markey and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s speeches were peppered with cries for “80 by 50,” “strengthen solar subsidies” and “impeach him.” But after that first chant, they felt inadequate.
We need to take action, we need 80% by 2050, we need to invest in clean renewable energy. But, as Bill McKibben said “you can’t just change your campus, you’ve got to change your world.”
We build this movement by talking to one person, then another, and another. That begins on campus, in our communities, and with the people we know. But we need to reach out beyond the people we know. We need to get out of our comfort zones and spread the message that we want more than a passable energy bill, more than policies. In the words of Van Jones, we want a future where “we don’t have any throwaway resources, any throwaway species, any throwaway children.”
We don’t just want it. We need it.
Subscribe by Email!
Subscribe by RSS!
Share on Facebook
In spite of the politics we do not have a bright future?
Sustainable South Bronx and Van Jones totally rocked my world tonight… something amazing is happening.
well said Juliana!
I think we were chaning “WE WANT GORE” at least that was what everyone around me was chanting.
I was in the group that started the chant, and I can assure you that we were chanting “We want more.” The message may have gotten jumbled with so many people in the room, but that was the original intent.
It is fine to ask for more but that challenge should be made to inspire more and bolder action, and to result in more and bolder action. I think Cong Markey was making the point that we need to do more but we need to pass this energy bill as part of the path to more. It is not unlike the work that is done on campus to create climate policies. Those policies are obviously not enough, but a) they make a difference, b) they legitimize other efforts at progress, and c) they raise the bar for those of us who ask for more.
In that spirit I think we were right to be asking for more, but it would be counterproductive to abandon efforts to enact the policies in the energy bill.
Thanks to Juliana and everyone else who chanted “We want more.” More than either Markey’s or Pelosi’s speeches, this was one of the highlights of Saturday night for me. I thought it was a smart chant. It wasn’t saying we don’t care about getting good legislation, just that there’s more to it than that, which Juliana explained well. We need a clean energy revolution, justice, peace and more!
This is very much what I felt on Saturday. We have to remember that Markey and Pelosi are politicians and they are going to say what their audience wants to hear, not necessarily what they actually think. The rhetoric is fine and all, but what did we really go to D.C. to accomplish? Why did we all go there? I don’t think this can be explained in phrases or chants… it’s much more than that.
I totally believe this is what we’re fighting for. Global warming is the most serious symptom of a society that is going on the wrong path. We are fighting global warming to ultimately get rid of all these ills. We need to envision and work towards a society that values people and natural assets, not just exploitation. The idea that this is hard to do is unfounded. People care for people and the place where they live. Nobody can contest that this is our nature. Great post!