Earth Day is a great occasion to reflect and center our work on the ways that corporate rule has put our planet and lives at risk.
From gas pipeline spills to the plastic epidemic... to rising global temperatures leading to more intense and dangerous weather patterns: corporate greed has been at the forefront of many decisions that ultimately harm our world.
Here are some things we can do to combat corporate greed on Earth Day (and every day)
Create Communities of Resilience : Join our Eco-Net
Learning from others, getting resources to your communities, and sharing best practices is an important part of climate resilience. Check out our monthly Eco-Net call to connect with others who are passionate about this topic.
End Corporate Rule - Lobby your Representative to pass the We The People Amendment
Fight for your representative to sign on to the We The People Amendment. As long as corporations wield constitutional rights and the big money in elections remains legal "free speech, our fight for ecological democracy will be close to impossible. They go hand in hand. This is the main amendment that Move to Amend works on because we know the importance of this connection.
Solidarity Organizing - Take our Movement Education Program
As a global crisis that will affect exploited communities more quickly and harshly, we must see the ways in which we in the USA can act in solidarity with those who are on the front lines of the crisis. Learn in this self-paced workshop what it means to build a movement.
It's also worth mentioning that corporations have found this passion in folks and will manipulate us into thinking they are on the same side as the people.
Ways to look out for corporate green washing this Earth Day:
Individual choices over corporate decisions:
Recycling, for example: instead of companies making their products have a longer use lifespan than a few minutes and their waste having a lifespan of thousands of years, they will blame consumers for not putting their trashy products in the right bin. Instead, we need to fight against the products that have been forced upon us in the first place. Through ending corporate rule, for example, we can make corporations pay for the TOTAL lifespan and damages of their products, so that we can have safer products and so their lobbying and propaganda attempts on the public are non-existent.
Normalization of criminal environmental offenses:
Irreparable ecological damage is not normal, yet it happens often. We pay the price with our health, environment, and wallets. And yet, corporations who are responsible for these disasters are allowed to continue as if it never happened. We deserve a world where there is no room for damages to occur in the first place. Passing the We the People Amendment is a big step toward ending corporate rule and putting the power in the hands of The People to make decisions about their communities, including risks.
Encouraging tourism of places locals have told Americans not to go:
Hawai'i and Puerto Rico, are examples of modern-day colonial territories of the United States in which locals are telling people not to come to. Especially as Frontline communities of the climate crisis, there is an abundance of exploitation of the natural environment and through venture capitalism when there are crisis, especially by wealthy mainlanders. There is also intense gentrification that is pushing locals out of their homes. We must act in solidarity against this exploitation and continue to tell the United States to return autonomy to these territories.
These issues are important and ruled by corporate greed. We have been fighting against it and with your help, we can continue to.
Image/Art Credits: Ricardo Levins Morales Art Studio
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