By Rebecca Dowd,
Missouri Coalition for the Environment Intern
www.moenviron.org
“We The People 2.0” Fight the American Oligarchy
The Trump administration calls our current framework for environmental protection “burdensome” and “unnecessary” and he has advocated for its elimination. Now is the time for unity and activism.
Across the United States, the public does not have a right to clean water, free from industrial pollution. Clean Water Act enforcement is lax and has allowed for the contamination of rivers, streams, and lakes. In the current political climate, access to clean water, air, land, and healthy food are under pressure from growing anti-regulatory sentiments. Community activism to demand human rights is the first step in fighting against the corporate tae-over in the United States. One hundred and fifty communities across the United States have banned fracking, sludging, and privatizing their water and this growing movement can create a new structure of law to protect the planet.
“We thought we had an oil and gas problem, we thought we had a fracking problem, but we came to realize that what we have here is a democracy problem,” says Tish O’Dell in the film, We the People 2.0. The film provides an understanding of how communities can create change at the grassroots level against our country’s leading polluting industries. Join MCE Friday, May 19 for a free showing of “We the People 2.0” at Ritz Park on South Grand from at 7 p.m. Learn how you can get involved in grassroots movements to reclaim democracy.
The film explores how localities across North America have challenged corporations by granting rights to ecosystems and fighting to pass laws against water privatization, fracking, and factory farming. The film gives citizens a better understanding of how to fight large, polluting industries on a local level and keep them from harming communities.
Attendees will receive a copy of our Missouri Citizen’s Guide to Environmental Protection, while supplies last, a short booklet that informs and empowers citizens to advocate for local and state environmental protections. Following the film, a member of the production crew will join the audience for a Q&A. The need for environmental protection is growing. It is time we use the tools we have to bring back democracy and make a difference in our communities.
To learn more about making sustainability legal, visit our Democracy in Action homepage: moenvironment.org/environment-blog/democracy-in-action