WiLD Blog

We have our fair share of clean water issues here in San Diego, but we are not alone. In the Midwest, a large battle is brewing over the area’s largest oil refinery’s plans to discharge more pollutants into Lake Michigan. A permit has been issued that allows the refinery to dump 53% more ammonia and 35% more pounds of suspended solids.

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one in the group located entirely within the United States.

Public outcry has been huge, with more than 45,000 people signing a petition against the permit and politicians are stepping up as well too. The United States House of Representatives approved a resolution urging the state of Indiana to reconsider issuing the permit.

To me this demonstrates the fact that people do care about their environment and our politicians do listen to our voices. Collective action such as public awareness and petitions do make a difference in affecting change. People commonly ask: “What does one person matter?” The thing is every person counts towards a collective whole that can affect great changes when needed, and every person is needed.

Having awareness and appreciation of the natural environment and the ways we affect it is crucial when tackling environmental issues such as this. Rahm Emanuel, the Democratic representative of Illinois said, “Fifteen years ago, they may have been able to pull this off, but there has been a total consciousness change among the people that live here.”

People have learned that they are equally affected by the quality of Lake Michigan as well as the plants and creatures that live there. They’ve come to appreciate its natural beauty. We should all have pride in where we live and work to protect the natural environment that we are a part of. We can’t allow private interests to restrict or pollute our access to something that belongs to all of us.

-Calvin Lee