Believing in change

I’m thinking about intentions for the coming year, wondering how best to put my energies to use. This week while Sue is away I’ve scheduled informal interviews with some inspiring Portland activists, asking what fires them up. 

I started with Nancy Newell today. Her commitment is to shut down the Fukushima-style nuclear power plant two hundred miles from Portland, Columbia Generating Station (CGS). She’s working with a Physicians for Social Responsibility and a coalition of environmental groups that have a website here.  

She asks, “What would YOU do if you knew that there is worse than a nuclear bomb located and operating near us? What would YOU do if you knew that its operation could be stopped with your efforts?” She’s a persuasive woman. The power station is in Washington State, and Nancy says it’s extremely dangerous; it endangers workers who suffer from radiation sickness and leukemia, and it endangers all of us with the possibility of another Fukushima melt-down, but it only provides 4% of Washington’s power supply. 

“My focus for this year is to shut that place down,” she says, simply and clearly. “I believe we can do that.”  Her energy is joyful and up-beat, infectious. She says she enjoys the power of being alive at this moment, the privilege of being the age we are: we’ve been part of many movements to change the world for the better, and even though there is always plenty still to do, she says, “We’ve made a difference. Racism is not what it was when we were children; the Viet Nam war ended; gay people are mainstream; sustainable energy is a household term. It’s possible to make change happen. Our work isn’t done; it never will be. But we can make things better. Why would anybody NOT do that?” 

Where do I--where do you--want to aim the energy, persistence, and drive we are lucky enough to have?