I started this blog bemoaning the 40-mph winds that will keep me off the trails. Wind is dangerous. I’m a regular DEMOCRACY NOW listener, so my time has been very well spent this morning listening to Amy Goodman’s interview with Tim DeChristopher.
While I was shoveling snow on Friday, this college student was bidding on Utah oil and gas drilling leases – outbidding the would-be polluters on 22,500 acres of our national parks. He can’t pay for this land. He just understood enough about the process to keep the lands from being considered for auction until after President Obama’s inauguration. GO, TIM, GO!
This is the kind of citizen action that keeps democracy alive.
Tim is 27-years-old. He’s not playing computer games or at the mall or mindlessly idling his SUV. Maybe he was home-schooled or raised eating locally-grown food. Tim can think, put pieces of a puzzle together and most importantly, take effective action.
I’m concerned that President Obama doesn’t fully grasp the issue of sustainable technology and the importance of sustainable food production. My hero Michael Pollan’s reaction to Obama’s choice of Tom Vilsack as our next agriculture secretary is the source of this concern. My fellow CSA gardeners agree with Pollan.
But if there’s one young activist ready, willing and able to take effective action, there are certain to be others.