University of
Four years ago, when many of us graduating today were first entering college, the environmental movement was in its prime: environmental industries were sprouting across the nation, membership in environmental groups was at an all time high, and we were on the verge of electing a vice-president who claimed we were upon an international environmental crisis, with the fate of the Earth in the Balance.
People were optimistic. We felt the environmental tide had turned—forging a new paradigm for stewardship of natural resources—and fundamentally shifting society to a new center, one that incorporates environmental values.
Today, as we graduate, the world around us has changed. The laws that we, as a movement, have tirelessly fought for are under attack, assaulted in unprecedented and innumerable ways. Some people say we just don’t need environmental regulation anymore; and it’s those people who are calling the shots on Capitol Hill, in Lansing, and numerous other governmental bodies across the country.
As the newest crop of environmental professionals, these changes couldn’t have come at a worse time. Environmental protections create and define our careers, and without the legislation, there’s no impetuous to preserve and protect; there’s no need for those of us who want to dedicate our lives to those ends.
But perhaps the most difficult part is trying to explain our predicament to our family and our friends. Inevitably they ask us what our plans are after college. For many of us, our plans are to take some time off, volunteer or get an internship with a meager stipend, maybe head back to school, but almost certainly not a direct path into an environmental career. In the worst cases they respond with a sarcastic cost-benefit analysis of our education, saying something like, “you spent $70,000 on a college education, and now you are going to work for free?!?”
It isn’t the dollar amount that makes that comment sting so much, as it is the realization that the things that we so passionately value have little or no market value.
Yet even with such bleak prospects, I don’t feel despondent. The environmental movement has survived hostile political climates before, and the job issue is something we’ve dealt with a lot in our schooling, whether it is jobs and the environment; jobs vs. the environment, or jobs in the environment. We are all bright hardworking kids, and we will all find our economic niche.
But what really gives me hope, is that the
As we leave school and head our separate ways, I hope that wherever our lives take us, that job won’t be forgotten. In that sense we will never lose hope, we will never question why we struggle. Congratulations Class of 1995, you’ve finally made it to the real world. Now change it.