|
by Ben Canyon Gass
I have not felt much hope for the future. My generation has been labeled apathetic, but that is because we see what our "leaders" are doing to this county and it has appeared hopeless to stop. With growing gaps between rich and poor, our nation's people are out of work, our children are sick from man-made pollutants in the air, and we are viewed by the rest of the world to be a greedy resource-consuming corporate beast.
Where lies the hope in this bleak future we are headed toward? Well, I have seen it. I have seen the possibility of a brighter future. I discovered this hopeful vision for the future when I traveled to Iowa for the caucuses. I was there to campaign not for Howard Dean, not for John Kerry, but for Apollo.
I was with a group of 18 students/young activists who were working with the Apollo Alliance, an unprecedented coalition of national labor unions and environmental groups pushing for a New Apollo Project. It was proposed with the same ambition and boldness as President Kennedy's Apollo project, but the New Apollo Project is no race to the moon; it is a race to a clean energy future for our country. A new study by a corporate economist shows that an annual investment of $30 billion over 10 years into developing clean energy technologies would create 3.3 million new good jobs in America.
Apollo would also end our dependence on foreign oil, which for years has jeopardized our national security. Clean energy sources emit little to no pollution, which means cleaner skies and better health. At this point, asthma in children ages 4 and under has risen 160 percent since 1980. Pollution is a serious health risk, and clean energy is an obvious cure.
Our group in Iowa traveled around the state to over 30 presidential candidate events in six days, sporting our orange flight suits to represent Kennedy's Apollo mission. "When I say clean energy you say jobs. Clean energy! Jobs! Clean energy! Jobs!" we all screamed the call and response chant while outside the Brown and Black Forum (a debate between the Democratic presidential candidates) in Des Moines, Iowa. We spoke with each candidate asking them to make a commitment to support the priciples of Apollo and to invest money into developing clean energy.
This grassroots organizing had a tremendous effect on the candidates. By the end of our 10 days in Iowa before the caucuses, each candidate had publicly acknowledged the Apollo Alliance, and applauded our efforts. We received a large amount of media attention including several national media outlets.
The Apollo Alliance has developed a 10-point plan to achieve America's energy independence. While the project will pay for itself and continue to make money after 10 years, America would have new technologies to power our future. We can work in true partnership with other countries as we bring these resources to the developing world. In helping to raise the standards of living and fostering a positive and sustainable relationship with the earth on an international scale, we become loved and respected rather than resented and feared. Why is it that over a third of the world's population lives without electricity when free energy from the sun is at our fingertips? We have but to reach out and be respectable leaders of the world and supply these technologies to those in need.
But Apollo cannot achieve this alone! The project would stand no chance on the governmental level without the support of the people. We especially need young people to stand up and show the rest of the world that we do care about our future. This new vision for America is ours to create.
Ben Gass, a former student at Mapleton Elementary, the Bridge School and New Vista, graduated from high school last summer at the age of 16. He is now working for the Apollo Alliance, www.ApolloAliiance.org.
|
|
