Blog 19/365 TTT ~ 12 YEARS OLD! KIDS GET IT!

It is Think Tank Thursday Time again...love it! :-)

I was not sure what to write about until I read the following speech from a 12 year old! Just imagine a 12 year old on stage in front of leaders from around the world...here is what she had to say:

"Hello, I'm Severn Suzuki, speaking for ECO - Environmental Children's Organization. We are a group of twelve-and thirteen-year-olds trying to make a difference: Vanessa Suttie, Morgan Geisler, Michelle Quigg and me. We raised all the money to come here five thousand miles to tell you adults you must change your ways. Coming up here today, I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future. Losing my future is not like losing an election of a few points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come. I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard. I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have nowhere left to go. I am afraid to go out in the sun now because of the holes in the ozone. I am afraid to breathe the air because I don't know what chemicals are in it. I used to go fishing in Vancouver, my home, with my dad until just a few years ago we found the fish full of cancers. And now we hear of animals and plants going extinct every day-vanishing forever. In my life, I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rain forests full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see. Did you have to worry about these things when you were my age? All this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want and all the solutions. I'm only a child and I don't have all the solutions, but I want you to realize, neither do you...You don't know how to bring the salmon back up a dead stream. You don't know how to bring back an animal now extinct. And you can't bring back the forest that once grew where there is now desert. If you don't know how to fix it, please stop breaking it!...

At school, even in kindergarten, you teach us how to behave in the world. You teach us: not to fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share - not be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do? Do not forget why you're attending these conferences, who your doing this for - we are your own children. You are deciding what kind of world we are growing up in. Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying "everything's going to be all right," "it's not the end of the world," and "we're doing the best we can." But I don't think you can say that to us anymore. Are we even on your list of priorities?

My dad always says, "You are what you do, not what you say." Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You grown-ups say you love us, but I challenge you. Please make your actions reflect your words. Thank you."

What do you think about that?!?

Now get ready for the nauseating part...that speech is from 1992!!! We have been F^&%ing the dog for the last 20 years!!! So what's the answer?

Do you know how to bring salmon back up a dead stream?

Do you know how to bring back an extinct animal?

Do you know how to re-grow a forest that once grew where there is now a desert?

Sara I know that you want to give Nora the best future possible; well re-read what that 12 year old said in 1992!!! Idea's to come. Timmy you are the engineer and you hit the nail on the head when it comes to policy! (view Sara & Tim's comments from last week below)

It's ironic, as I write this I am listening to the song Little Lion Man and these lyrics just rolled:

"It was not your fault, but mine.

It was your heart on the line.

I really fucked it up this time!

Didn't I my dear!"

I want to sing a different song to future generations. The generations that will be most affected by our lack of environmental stewardship are being born today, and those yet to be born...Who will be their voice?

Maybe we will get lucky...maybe we can just continue the "status-quo?"

Hmmm...sigh....you already know the answer is no!

To build a sustainable future will take hard work and time...but it's an opportunity!

Be the change you want to see...right?

Well what change do we want to see in the future?

Make it a great day,

sending love always,

Stephen

"You are what you do, not what you say!" ~ Dad Suzuki

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In response to last weeks TTT ~ The Next Generation

Tim wrote:

"dude most of the world wants a sustainable development strategy, unfortunately while ancient technology (fossil fuel) is more cost effective and can produce large profits, greedy bastards who run these companies will still do it! Massive government subsidies are need to promote green technology and give it the financial insentives need for implementation (china actually does this with solar panels, but they've done it too such extremes that no other country in the world can compete with the prices they can offer, so everyone complains about it). Anyway sorry to rant but its a system that is so financially driven its hard to change. But everyone can do they're part. Energy efficiency in the home. Exercise and public transport over cars. You know same old stuff!

Keep it real brother

Tim Carter"

Sara wrote:

I think that this is a great post. I think that most people depend on others or our government to do this, or would do more if they knew how! Maybe you could educate us or give us tips on your blog as well!

Passage comes from Hot, flat, & Crowded ~ Thomas L. Friedman