A Call to Arms
A powerful, greedy (corporate) person bent on keeping those it’s supposed to serve in the past? And it’s named Duke? The comparison between the backwards energy company and the medieval noble is obvious—almost as if it were intentional. But the real kicker: Duke recently merged with Progress to become the largest utility company in the nation. Last time I checked, dukes were a symbol of oppression, not progression.
Not that anyone told Duke. They’ve been pushing their “clean coal” agenda for years, as if there’s any such thing. An energy company advocating continued use of fossil fuels is the opposite of progress—a move that keeps its costumers in the Dark (sooty, coal-ash dark) Ages.
That’s why it came as little surprise to learn that Duke, in true Prince John fashion, has decided to exact revenge on the citizens of Cincinnati for the city’s decision to switch to 100% renewable energy—one of the largest areas in the nation to do so. Obviously, we can’t have that, so Duke has proposed tax hikes in order to recoup its losses from using Stone Age technology. Where’s Robin Hood when you need him?
Fortunately, that’s where we come in. Now, the Greenpeace Semester may be far-flung from a band of 12th century woodland outlaws, but this ragtag, motley crew of students from all over the nation does have a bit of a Merry Men feel to it. And we wouldn’t have it any other way: this is what grassroots organizing is all about, the empowerment of the village folk against the tyrannical prince, the oppressed against the oppressors, the 99% against the 1%, the seemingly weak against the seemingly strong. The citizens of this nation against energy conglomerates that look a lot more like rulers, a lot more like sinister dukes, than ever before.
It’s a daunting task, especially considering what we’re up against: a billion dollar corporation, the kind that has the power to run slander campaigns, influence politics, and poison entire cities—they destroy mountains that stand in their way, for crying out loud! Hannibalonly went through theAlps.
And what do we have? Certainly not the funds or the lobbyists or the ability to level our opponents to the ground. Instead, we have something far more potent, and far less fragile: the truth. The truth that profits won’t matter when the earth is scorched and barren and bled dry of the last vestige of its resources; the truth that thousands of people die every year from toxins due to coal burning; the truth that that number should be zero; the truth that, no matter what the Supreme Court says, corporations are not people and do not deserve the same rights as the citizens they regularly poison; the truth that small groups of thoughtful people indeed do change the world; the truth that Duke and other companies like them are on the wrong side of history, which has proven time and time again that tyrants fall but the people are forever.
But maybe Duke needs a reminder. Let’s give it to them. It’s time we take back what’s ours. #renewthefuture