Submitted by Susan Swanson
Yesterday’s Martin Luther King Jr. program hosted at Middlesex Community College and organized by Bedford Embraces Diversity was a valuable reminder for me for even at our best moments we may be found wanting. The METCO students were met with love and support, but also with taunts and jeers. We are all imperfect creatures responding to the world around us, sometimes with grace and compassion, other times with fear and anger.
Bedford and Massachusetts have a new opportunity to get things right as we address the climate crisis. The state legislature is working on bills that will modernize our electrical grid to handle the increasing need for electricity as we reduce our dependence upon fossil fuels. Historically, the permitting and siting of energy infrastructure has been done at the expense of poor communities, often communities of color. This has resulted in high levels of air pollution, leading to higher levels of asthma and other diseases.
We now have a chance to learn from past injustices and build an energy infrastructure that is both robust and equitable. How? Find out at the community forum: “Environmental Justice and Building Our New Grid – Where Should It All Go?” Hosted by the Massachusetts Environmental Justice Table and co-sponsored by several local organizations, the forum will feature speakers from communities on the frontline of the struggle for social justice.
The event is this Saturday, Jan. 20th, at 2:30. It is free and offered in hybrid format. In-person at First Parish, 20 Lexington Road, Concord. Online by registering at: https://bit.ly/EJTableForumRSVP. Join us in working to build a future that is good for everyone!
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