Role Play Post

Hey! The role play was great! First of all, wasn't it shocking how kind, thoughtful, and conscious our factory owner (Laell) was? This made me think of two things. 1, it's such the norm that leaders in these positions try to weasel out of paying for the consequences of their environmental destruction, that hearing a factory head actually want to work with the community seems like an anomaly. The role playing activity also reminded me of the story in Natural Steps, about people downstream building hospitals to better take care of the injured bodies that keep coming downstream, instead of going upstream to look at what is causing the bodies to fall in in the first place. When something like a fish kill happens, there are so many steps leading up to it... lack of eco-conscious decision making in many areas. That is the scary part-- so many of these problems could be prevented! Environmental Education to the rescue! Getting EE programs into schools, combined with active citizens taking part in local politics and environmental issues, will hopefully make a come back. Think of the charisma and power the environmental movement had in the 70s! They had the whole world in their hands! I wonder how a meeting like Copenhagen compares to the international meetings that were happening during the 70s when all the legislation was being passed... Sometimes it seems like the peak for US investment in environmental issues was then and now we're just trying to stay afloat... but I have hope! The article Dave just gave us from this month's Journal of Environmental Education had some great things to say about how little things DO make a difference.

And 2, wasn't it interesting that our role play was interrupted by the EPA commissioner, who doesn't seem to be too concerned with the environment at all? What would it have been like if HE were the factory owner? He would have dismissed our questions, skirted around the reality of the situation, and spoken to us in a condescending manner.

It's too darn bad the role play wasn't real life, and the real life commissioner is really, actually in charge of Indiana's environment.

Best quote from the day: "That 49 number is fake." -Thomas Easterly

It's Tough Owning a Factory!

Whew, that discussion was hard on me, but it was good, too. You guys really stretched my brain and the conflict-resoultion side of me. You thought up really HARD questions! I'm glad that phonecall came when it did because Jen had me stumped. I've read the posts saying how smooth everything went. I chose my character's position for a reason. I know that in this field many of us are quick to judge "big business," including myself. When I was placed in that position for class... it made me think that there's got to be heads of companies out there that aren't ONLY concerned with the bottom line. My local paper company that I researched to get my info for the discussion is trying hard to be as green as a paper company can be. I think there are some factory owners out there, maybe more than we think, who would be concerned with the environment, or at least saving face, and do what they could to make things right.