I attended my son’s college graduation on Saturday, at Plattsburgh State. This is the first one of my sons to graduate and as soon as “Pomp and Circumstance” began playing, the tears began flowing. Then watching as they processed to the front, caps and gowns, 400+ in all. Bagpipe brigade, Professors and staff in all their scholarly regalia. Truely inspiring and emotionally uplifting. So glad that I had made the trip.

But then, what a delight to find that the keynote speaker was non other than Bill McKibben. From the Commencement program:

In 2006, Mr. McKibben helped lead a walk across Vermont to demand action on global warming. It was the largest demonstration about climate change to date in America. He also founded “Step It Up 2007″ to demand that congress enact curbs on carbon emissions. He and six college students organized 1,400 global warming demonstrations across all 50 states. “Step it Up 2007″ has been described as the largest day of protest about climate change in the nation’s history.

Mr McKibben spoke to the graduates about how their lives would differ from the lives their parents had lived. Our increasing population and decreasing natural resources would necessitate a change in life style where community becomes much more important (Hilary was right- it does take a village). He talked about data that has been compiled, for years through various polls, asking Americans how satisfied they are with their lives. Satisfaction peaked in 1956 and has been declining every year since! As affluence increases, community decreases. The number of close friends that people claim goes down as well.

For a hundred years we’ve been steadily extending the supply lines of our economy, becoming ever more globalized. But some have begun to question that trend, and even to form the foundations of a newer, more local economy. The main reasons are two-fold: our ever-growing globe-spanning economy is increasingly vulnerable to the ecological disruption it is causing, with global warming the prime example; and despite record affluence Americans report ever-growing feelings of disconnection and loss of community, trends that can only be reversed if we manage to rebuild local institutions that draw people together.

Stlo7’s piece, last week, How Green is your candidate?, reminds us that our number 1 issue, in this country, for choosing a candidate for any office, has to be the environment. It is our responsibility to start building community again. It is an opportunity to make a difference. It is the way to happiness, the way to a better environment and a step away from global warming. Every step we can take…….