Civic Engagement and Democracy

You’ve probably seen the photos or heard the stories about rivers that caught on fire, smog that was thick enough to choke on, “dead” lakes like Lake Erie, and polluters able to do whatever they wanted to with no accountability. It all seemed so “normal”. And it was, until some people decided to speak up and do something.

One of those people was our founder, David Zwick. In the late 60s David took an assignment from Ralph Nader to investigate the state of the nation’s water. What he found shocked him and turned into a book – Water Wasteland. 

The Minnesota Legislature has been in session since January 6th, without many final actions to show for the time spent. In the past 12 weeks there has been a flurry of activity in the House and Senate, although from the perspective of clean water there are stark contrasts between the directions that they are headed in the remaining weeks until they adjourn on May 16th.

Senate

Years ago I volunteered on election day outside a suburban Detroit polling station at a majority Black precinct, speaking to voters about an renewable energy ballot proposal.