by Helen Deffenbacher, MoValley EcoKids Coordinator
Beyond Coal: The EcoKids Green Project of the Month for January, 2012
Your parents or grandparents may have told you about the Sierra Club’s Campaign called “Beyond Coal.” Our members are working with others all across the country to move America away from fossil fuels, like coal, oil, and natural gas, and on to green energy.
Green energy is also called “renewable” and “sustainable” energy. It lasts forever, and it’s cleaner and healthier for humans and the environment than fossil fuels.
Renewable energy includes wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. You can learn more about each of these at the U.S. Department of Energy’s website for kids: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/kids/
A young mother named Mary Ann Hitt, shown here in this photograph with her baby, is the Director of the Beyond Coal Campaign.
Mary Ann Hitt with Baby
They live in Appalachia. Coal-mining companies there are using dynamite to blow the tops off mountains to get to the veins of coal underneath. Five hundred mountains have been blown up. Most people believe that mountains and all of nature should belong to everyone and should not be destroyed.
More and more people everywhere are “speaking for the mountains,” and for the people of Appalachia. Just as the words and illustrations in The Lorax make people of all ages want to conserve trees, the stories and photographs from Appalachia are moving people of all ages to save the mountains.
The Appalachian Mountains are ancient, older than the Himalayas, even. Many people who live in Appalachia are doing all they can to move our nation beyond coal, including these two groups: I Love Mountains.Org and Kentuckians For the Commonwealth.Org.
They aren’t waiting for the government or for coal-mining companies to change things for the better. They’re acting together to make sure their children and grandchildren will inherit the remaining mountains.
They want present generations to enjoy and to be able to pass down to their children a healthy environment, with clean water and clean air, just as your own parents and grandparents also want for you. They are working hard to bring clean, renewable energy to their communities.
Sierra Club members aren’t waiting, either. Mary Ann Hitt writes that, “Our small, start-up campaign quickly grew into a force to be reckoned with. And I’m proud to say that, so far, together we have stopped over 150 proposed coal-fired power plants. People said that it couldn’t be done, but we are doing it.”
Here Are Several Things You Can Do:
- If they haven’t already, ask your parents and grandparents to take the pledge to move beyond coal at this website: www.beyondcoal.org/
- Ask your family to help you make a list of free and inexpensive things you can do to conserve (save) energy. You’ve probably heard that the “greenest” energy of all is energy that’s never used. Post your list on your refrigerator or bulletin board. Add to it as you discover new ideas. Websites with a lot of good ideas include:
- www.sierraclub.org/tips/ and http://www1.eere.energy.gov/kids/
- Check out books from your school or public library to learn more about renewable energy and green energy careers. Write a report for your class when your teacher assigns one for a nonfiction book.
- Save up your allowance and buy a book on renewable energy to donate to your school or neighborhood public library. Ask the librarians for one or more titles of books they would like to add to their collections.
- Consider doing a science fair project on renewable energy. Catch the Wind, Harness The Sun: Super-Charged Science Projects for Kids has 22 fun projects for ages 8 to 13. KidWind’s website also has project ideas, free energy activities, and classroom kits and materials: www.kidwind.org. Another great website with lots of science fair project ideas is: www.energyquest.ca.gov/projects/index.html
- Write a letter to President Obama thanking him for his support of renewable energy and green energy jobs for our nation’s workers. Send it to: President Barack Obama, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500
Each month Sierra Club volunteer Helen Deffenbacher will write about a different project or projects you can do in your home, backyard, or community. If you would like to suggest a project idea, email it to: Helen Deffenbacher (hdeffenbacher@cox.net).