On April 1st Tulane’s Environmental Action League joined thousands of people around the world in a day of protest against the fossil fuel industry. Fossil Fools Day, organized by the Energy Action Coalition and a number of other international environmental groups, boasted protests, acts of civil disobedience, green job rallies, and a ton of media hits.
In comparison to the people that blockaded the entrance to the Citibank Headquarters in New York, our event was relatively low-key (and incarceration free). We organized a photo petition to protest Entergy’s proposed Little Gypsy refitting, a project that will convert a natural gas-burning plant to a coal and petroleum-coke burning plant. Our petition focused on Entergy CEO J. Wayne Leonard’s comment regarding global warming that “Mankind is headed toward a crisis of Biblical proportions.” People passing by our table on campus could pose with his handsome mug, telling Leonard to “stop talking out both sides of your mouth” and not refit Little Gypsy.
Of those that dared to approach and find out why we had a man’s face plastered to a wall, the majority were shocked to hear about the refitting. The general consensus was that coal is a fuel of the past and something that we should be moving away from, not toward. Not many people in Louisiana expect to hear glowing stories of green, clean energy, but for a state that’s on the front lines of global warming, a switch to coal seems like a bit much this late in the game. The potential consequences of the refitting (increased greenhouse gas emissions, more mercury in our waters, and a hefty price tag that the rate payers will probably be saddled with), made most people eager to snap a photo with the Entergy CEO. Overall, the event was a success, and we got a lot of great pictures to send to Mr. Leonard.
The majority of the people we talked to were students. It seems fitting that my generation have a loud voice in current energy choices. While everyone will suffer from the most immediate impacts of coal burning, such as air and water pollution and the potential financial repercussions of a carbon tax, it will be us and our children that will bear the brunt of the consequences of fossil foolery.
Laney White is a Tulane Junior and a GRN intern working on Global Warming
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