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The old button from the Environmental Club days which I just happened to find on Earth Day! It is a little beat up (particularly the ends of the ribbon), but no worse for the wear, I think. And it is one of the few items that I have left from those days, so it carries a lot of great memories for me! Nothing Changes Until You Do!
Here is a picture of a very similar logo, with the same message, that was on the t-shirt that I purchased from the BCC Environmental Club and, if memory serves me correctly, may even have helped to make. There were a few projects like that which club members, myself included, were regularly involved with. It has been so long, however, that I no longer recall specifically if I actually helped to make these or not, although I do believe so, since I remember seeing the process of the t-shirts being dyed. In any case, I loved this t-shirt, and have kept it ever since, even if I do not regularly wear it. Since it was part of my experience with the BCC Environmental Club days, as well as more generally having an environmental theme, it seemed appropriate to share it here.
"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's gred."
~Mahatma Gandhi
"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."
~John F. Kennedy
Since I have been on the topic of environmental issues today, I figured I would address one aspect of President Obama's presidency that has significantly improved during this second term: his environmental record.
While there are other aspects of his presidency that seem to have come into stronger focus since that time when he no longer has to worry about being elected (and perhaps even more since the final midterm elections, which means that elections should not sway his actions, one way or the other, for the rest of his presidency).
He took action on immigration. He opened formal relations with Cuba. He is trying to come up with an Iran deal.
But to me, the best thing that he could have done, and did, was strengthen his environmental record with goals and action.
There are criticisms. First of all, of course, there are opponents to this environmental action who are vehemently accusing the president of almost dictatorial powers. Those criticisms are from the right.
From the left, there are criticisms, with some measure of legitimacy, that the actions that the president has taken do not go nearly far enough.
Indeed, I agree. But we have to start somewhere. And after seemingly ignoring the issue for the first four years of his term in office, he finally decided to get serious about using his power and influence to take action on combating climate change. I was a bit surprised (and disappointed, admittedly) that President Obama did not take action sooner (after all, he was not guaranteed of earning a second term prior to the 2012 election, especially since every Republican and their uncle kept repeating how he was another Jimmy Carter), and he might have missed out on the opportunity altogether had he not been more careful.
Still, better late than never. And better something than nothing.
For his actions, I applaud President Obama on taking stronger action on climate change than any president before. It is a positive step forward. Let us hope that we will see more such action in the future, and tighten our collective belts even more on this most crucial of issues.
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