The Studio Source.com

I’m new to the blogging game, so I just found this out – October 15 is Blog Action Day, where bloggers the world over are called to write about an important global issue.

This year the topic is climate change.

Mark McGuinness wrote a great post about how we can convince people to take action, and points out how hard it  is to change minds.

We do like our ruts.

Al Gore told the world about the danger we’re in. People still aren’t getting it. No, wait. People are getting it. There are many individuals who are investing in solar power, changing their vehicles to run on cooking oil (which I hear isn’t too difficult if it runs on diesel), turning down their thermostats, and carpooling. The big problem is leadership. How do we change the minds of politicians?

We tell them to.

Politicians are always looking at voting issues. My member of Parliament told me if he gets a dozen contacts about something, it’s an issue. 12 messages. That’s all. That’s how much power we really have, but don’t realize it.

This gives a whole new meaning to the word “grassroots.”

So here’s my challenge: contact your government representatives. Take 10 minutes out of your day to send one email to your municipal, provincial or state, and federal reps. Tell them to wake up and get busy. Tell them they work for you, and you’d like clean air and water, thank you very much, for the next generation. Pay particular attention to your municipal government, because that’s where change really happens. It starts small and gains momentum. Google is an easy way to find government contact information.

A little bit of research. One email. A world  full of voices, and you can be part of it.