04/22/2009

http://www.stanforddaily.com/cgi-bin/?p=1029643
BY ELLEN DANFORD

Majora Carter, founder of Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training (BEST), spoke yesterday on how environmentalism can help create jobs and alleviate poverty.

Environmental justice activist Majora Carter spoke of the links between the poor, economic troubles and environmentalism, and called for the creation of renewable energy jobs to anchor an economic recovery, in a keynote speech for Greenfest 2009 last night in Annenberg Auditorium.

“We were a community defined by crime, poor education, everything negative,” Carter said of the South Bronx, where she founded Sustainable South Bronx to improve the environmental factors in New York City. The group also led to the establishment of the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training (BEST), which creates green jobs for unemployed Bronx residents.

Carter and BEST were integral to introducing smart roofs to the Bronx. Smart roofs grow plants on top of houses to conserve space, keep buildings cooler and utilize 75-95 percent of storm water.

“We’re not saying green roofs are the be all and end all–this reduces the amount of storm water that has to be transferred by an entirely inefficient sewage system,” she said.

Carter also blamed the economy for social problems in the Bronx.

“This is about race and class–this is what the pollution based economy does to poor people,” she said. “Our current economy was built on the backs of poor people.”

However, Carter is optimistic about her work and the work of Americans for the future of an environmentally just nation, noting how “We’ve had enough of building all sorts of icky tributes to our failures.”

She believes that now is the time to take a step forward for renewable energy and creating new jobs, especially under President Obama. According to Carter, Obama is an acronym for “Officially Behaving As Magnificent Americans.”

The event was coordinated by a unique collaboration of Students for a Sustainable Stanford, Students Taking on Poverty, Students Promoting Ethnic and Cultural Kinship, Energy Crossroads and the NAACP.

The collaboration of such different groups came to the attention of many involved, including Carter.

“I go to a lot of schools, and I have not seen a coordinated group as diverse as the one who organized this,” she said.

“[Carter] brings a new energy,” said Molly Oshun ’10, one of the organizers of Greenfest. “Her speech and the collaboration of all these different [organizing] groups give us more leeway to explore what we are excited about.”

“We are hitting an era where everyone wants a stake in the environmental issue,” added John Mulrow ’09, president of Students for a Sustainable Stanford. “We need to transform from our vision of sustainability to encompass all other viewpoints.”

Many of the organizing members and students involved came to hear Carter speak on her work with the environment and the lower class.

“Majora’s focus on environmental justice, advocacy for the overlooked and the incorporation of social values and equity into city planning are, and will be, essential,” said Drew Bennett ‘09, president of Energy Crossroads.

In her speech, Carter covered many issues important to Mulrow, Bennet and Mulfinger, including the environment, social problems and community problems.

Carter grew up in the South Bronx herself, and its poverty and poor environment led her to environmental justice.

Bryce Golden-Chen ’09 left inspired by Carter’s message, and was hopeful for the future.

“It is great to see that the power of a grassroots organization is something that has potential to effect change in the environment,” he said. “Also, we are beginning to see with the new administration new legislation to reach a solution.”