This Earth Day, the Allegheny Highlands Climate Change Impact Initiative was busy doing the “greenhouse boogie” in Morgantown. The outdoor event featured many groups, including the Mountain Stewardship and Outdoor Leadership School, the Morgantown Bike Board, the West Virginia Botanic Gardens and the Avian Conservation Center for Appalachia.
The Dominion-Post had great coverage of the event. Here’s an excerpt:
“Tom Rodd, from Friends of Blackwater, was there to teach kids about the atmosphere and greenhouse gases.
‘We try to focus on how greenhouse gases are warming the planet, it’s a good thing in moderation, but when we overdo it, it’s dangerous. You sort of have to understand that the atmosphere is very sensitive’ Rodd said.
Rodd said it’s difficult to understand the idea of the atmosphere, and even adults have a hard time understanding its importance. He said obviously these kids have parents who are worried about their future, so when they see kids paying attention to the issue, it also shows parents the importance too. He also said technology lends a hand in impacting the environment. He said we have created fabulous technology that really helps us a lot, but it’s also got risks and downsides, so managing those is just as important as the positive things.
‘Take a place like Morgantown. This is where the technology is being invented and discovered, so there’s a lot of people here who really want to manage technology better.’
Managing the way we handle greenhouse gases is a difficult situation, but Rodd emphasized that the subject is not going away anytime soon.
‘We have to stop putting so many greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. We have to switch over to low carbon energy. It’s going to be really tough, but we don’t have any choice’, said Rodd.”
