Michigan's AmeriCorps Member Council - Posting #6

Hello, it's Matthew Reaume again from Huron Pines AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps and environmental stewardship both strive to accomplish the same goal, which is to create a better world. We cannot make a better world without dedicated individuals who believe change is possible only when people act.

John F. Kennedy once said "Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation." AmeriCorps embodies this spirit.

When committed people serve their community and country by giving their time and energy to eliminating poverty, educating those who've fallen behind, feeding the hungry, and sheltering the homeless, we are certainly advancing our goal to create a better world. But how exactly does environmental stewardship contribute to this?

The first reason is because without environmental stewardship, human beings could plausibly alter the environment beyond the earth's natural ability to recover and stabilize. This would of course result in worldwide catastrophe including, but not limited to, massive drought, famine, flooding, fires, disease outbreak, starvation, and death on a biblical scale. There is overwhelming scientific agreement on this statement. It would be hard to imagine a better world on a planet described above.

But even if one is not particularly inclined to subscribe to the first reason, they will certainly recognize the practical effects of the second reason. The second reason is environmental stewardship is necessary to create a better world due to its economic implications. Sound environmental policy can have positive effects on the economy. A struggling economy however may make it difficult to fund these policy changes.

The articles found at the following addresses discuss the balance between the economy and the environment in greater detail:

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007445.html

http://www.onearth.org/article/a-strong-economy-is-a-green-economy

But if we understand that by conserving our environment, we are securing economic prosperity, then we should also recognize why a strong economy is vital to creating a better world. A strong economy has a positive effect on the world AmeriCorps is dedicated to improving.

Take poverty for example. It is hard to imagine in today's economic climate that enough employment opportunities exist to allow for economic mobility upward for the impoverished. Of all the things that have been done to help the poor up to this point, without job-growth in this country, we are facing a road-block.

This is just one example that illustrates how the AmeriCorps' mission to improve the world through national service is inextricably linked with service to and for the environment.

What are some other ways in which the idea of environmental stewardship aligns with the goals of AmeriCorps?