Article Title: After the Summit, Anna Murphey Considers the Environment and the Beauty of Life

Edition: April 2001
Category: ViewPoint
Author: Anna Murphey
Article:

The 2001 Youth Environmental Summit (Y.E.S.) took place on Tuesday, March 20th at Vermont College. The day-long conference, organized by Vermont high school students and the Agency of Vermont Recyclers, was attended by about 300 students and teachers from more than 20 high schools statewide.

The event (theme: "It's Not Too Late to Change Earth's Fate") attracted presenters and exhibitors, representing an array of organizations, who educated participants on a diversity of environmental issues, including global warming, genetic engineering, Act 250, organic farming, alternative energy, and free trade.

Y.E.S. 2001 was intended to inform and empower the youth of Vermont about issues of environmental concern, with an emphasis on personal responsibility and leadership, and to nurture an ongoing love and respect for the Earth.

My Reflection
The morning of March 20th brought with it many emotions: anticipation for the conference that I had helped to plan for nearly six months, exhaustion from a hard day (and night) of planning, and, especially, excitement at watching Alumni Gym fill up with high school students from all over the state, who would experience our work firsthand. I hoped that they would, in some way, leave the summit changed by what they had seen and heard. Although I had worked closely with the production of the summit, I feel I was left with a greater understanding of the environmental concerns that face our planet.

Having attended similar events in the past, I was already familiar, on a basic level, with most of the topics presented. What impressed me about my experience at Y.E.S. was discovering the interconnectedness of so many of the issues I had learned about. Global climate change is inexorably tied to deforestation; free trade to energy policy and human rights. The banner problem of overconsumption encompasses them all. I realized that a change in philosophy towards environmental issues must include recognizing these problems as a whole, not as isolated phenomena, and above all, it must begin with addressing the problem of overconsumption. Ironically, Americans, the world's biggest offenders, hold the power to reverse environmental degradation, if we choose.

Perhaps the strongest impression left on me by my experience was a sense of my good fortune to live in a place like Vermont, where planning a statewide youth conference is an attainable goal; where a community comes together to support such an event; and where the "big picture" of environmental protection hits close to home. I don't think it's a coincidence that there is so much enthusiasm and activity among the youth of Vermont, a small state home to enormous beauty and enormous idealism. Being a part of Y.E.S. gave me hope that an important change is afoot, here in Vermont and in the United States, among young people in regard to environmental thinking.

A two-part closing ceremony to the conference drove home what I think were two of the most important messages of the day. The first was a speech by a Massachusetts student, Liberian refugee, and activist who used his own wartime experience to encourage others to become leaders, regardless of adversity, and to believe in the power of the individual. The other was a pageant celebrating the interdependence of Earth's species, which included the entire audience in a simple performance of music and dance. To me, this was a reminder to not lose sight of our role as the human species in the web of Earth's systems, and, more importantly, not to forget the real reason behind being environmentalists: that is, that we should pause daily to honor the beauty and joy of life.

Anna Murphey is a junior at Montpelier High School.

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