I’m not alone in experiencing an array of emotions in response to the damage from the latest ice storm. Sadly, it is a foreseeable result of decisions being made by corporate interests every minute of every day. So is the plethora of climate-related disasters that are becoming commonplace across our planet. In fact, these are precisely the types of events scientists began warning us about in the early 1970’s. I was 9 years old when I asked a trusted authority figure about global warming. He said it was a hoax.

Since then, I’ve learned a lot. As a business attorney, I came to understand how our laws and economic system set the stage to maximize profits at the expense of everything else, including our health and the wellbeing of our planet, with little accountability. If we intend for our children and grandchildren to inherit a dying planet that will make their survival ever more challenging, we’re doing an exceedingly good job. If not, we MUST change.

What big corporations understand are profits. If we collectively stop buying from them, they will hear us. If we buy recycled and reused goods whenever possible, and patronize local artisans, they will hear us. Most everything we can touch, smell, taste and hear comes from our life-giving planet, including our bodies. We must begin taking responsibility for her wellbeing even though our laws may not encourage it. Together we can turn things around. Write to me at tina@yeshope.org and tell be how you’re being the change you wish to see in the world.

Tina Gehres

Lincoln