Rilee Lytle

10th Grade Humanities

Energy Justice Monologue

Listen to the Voices

The land around us is screaming yet we ignore the voices and continue destroying our planet.
The land we live on has provided us with protection, food, water, and supplies that support us in our
everyday lives. However, we take more than we care to admit. The land has done nothing wrong,
nevertheless, we strip the resources from our planet, just so we can have more waste. Let me ask this
question: why do we only care for ourselves and not see the big picture?

The reason is that we as humans don’t think about the long-term effects of our actions but the
short-term effects. From day one, we thought of the land as something expendable, that the land
doesn’t matter. It’s only here for our use.

Even so, that is wrong. A story that conveys the message that the land gives to us and we should
give back, called “Braiding Sweetgrass”, written by Robin Kimmerer, says this, “It is not a reward, you
cannot earn it, or call it to you, or even deserve it. And yet it appears. Your only role is to be open-eyed
and present. Gifts exist in a realm of humility and mystery– as with random acts of kindness, we do not
know their source.” The land itself is a gift to us. But we only see what is right in front of us. For
example, energy and electricity. We as humans cannot survive without energy. We want energy so we
build more power plants in sacred places.

For example, Chaco Canyon. San Juan Citizens Alliances has a program that is called the Faces of
Chaco, where people’s voices can be heard about Chaco Canyon and the oil and gas companies.
Marlene is one of the people who wanted her voice to be heard, here is what she has to say, “ Just in
the little hills here, mesas, it’s just the whole place being destroyed… Even down in this canyon you
can find petroglyphs. And [the oil companies] tell us we’re trespassing. This is our home, I say, how dare
you tell us we’re trespassing?’” We should care more about what people have to say instead of ignoring
all of the voices.
 Oil and gas companies are taking more and more land and resources so they can do more harm.
They just want more and more money. Where is the environmental justice?

Nature is trying to live, and with all that the oil and gas companies are taking, nature can’t
thrive. We should abide by the principles of environmental justice. In 1991, the first national people of
color environmental leadership summit was held in Washington, DC where a group had drafted the 17
principles of environmental justice. Principle 1 of that official document states, “Environmental Justice
affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and
the right to be free from ecological destruction.” If we focus on what is right for our planet and what
will benefit the majority, if not all people, our world will be grateful. So let’s do the right thing and save
our planet from destruction.
 Work cited page

Kimmerer, Robin Wall, and Robin Wall Kimmerer. “A Gift of Strawberries.” Braiding
Sweetgrass, Milkweed Editions, Minneapolis, MN, MN, 2013, pp. 22–32.

Citizens Alliance., San Juan. “Marlene - Faces of Chaco.” San Juan Citizens Alliance, 31 Aug.
2018, www.sanjuancitizens.org/faces-of-chaco/the-stories/marlene.

Leadership Summit , First National People of Color Environmental. “Principles of

Environmental Justice.” Principles of Environmental Justice, 1996,
www.ejnet.org/ej/principles.html.