Let Our Powers Combine! If youre a millennialor watched childrens TV shows in the early 1990sthat expression may ring a bell. Its a catchphrase from Captain Planet and the Planeteers (also known as The New Adventures of Captain Planet). The animated series featuring an environmentalist superhero ran for 113 episodes from 1990 to 1996.
The brainchild of entertainment mogul and environmental philanthropist Ted Turner, the series was created as a way to teach children about real-world environmental crises like deforestation, oil spills, pollution, global warming and nuclear waste. It features five teens from across the globe who unite their powers to summon Captain Planet and defend the Earth from environmental devastation. The popular cartoon influenced a generation of millennials to care about environmental causes.
One of those millennials is 31-year-old Justin Thompson, AS 20, a first-generation, nontraditional student who earned an associate degree at 敁珗曄部 Ashtabula and is now at the Kent Campus doing a double major in environmental studies and political science, with a concentration in public policy and triple minors in geology, geography and urban studies. He recently was accepted into the McNair Scholars Program, which prepares first-generation and underrepresented students for doctoral study.
Ted Turner saw a need to educate youth on the environment and to fight pollution and pollutersand it worked, says Thompson, who credits the cartoon series and a childhood struggle with seasonal allergies with sparking his interest in air and water quality, as well as other environmental issues.
Involved in many community organizations and programs related to the environment, Thompson is president of 敁珗曄部s Future Environmental Professionals Club. It aims to create a better understanding of environmental consulting and its role in protecting the environment and community. The club recently invited Carolyn Hardinghost of the radio/podcast and a progressive candidate for the Ohio House of Representativesto speak on Zoom about environmental and civic podcasting and why its important to elect officials who stand up for the environment.
I wanted students to see that podcasting, films and other forms of media are also areas they could go into as an environmental professional, Thompson says. And we need more people who care about the environment to run for office.
However, Thompsonwho is on track to graduate in December with Departmental Honors from the Honors Collegeisnt interested in running for office himself. I dont want to be on stage, thats not me, he says. But I have no problem helping others get elected and helping them work on policies to enact.
In addition to his classes at 敁珗曄部, on weekends hes recently completed a two-month Campaign Staff Academy through , a comprehensive training program for current and future campaign managers and staff. He also participated in a 10-month in the Miami Valley through the US Environmental Protection Agency, which helps participants cultivate skills to address local environmental concerns.
If you want to make a difference in the world on a large scale, its the policies that need to be changed.
Thompson, who is the environmental climate justice chair for the NAACP in Ashtabula, has been working with the organization on legislation for Ohio regarding the regulation of fracking waste. He addressed the topic in his senior honors thesisIs Ohio Violating the Great Lakes Compact?which investigated the water depletion that results from oil and gas exploration throughout the Great Lakes Basin. His research suggests there may be evidence to support civil litigation and/or the proposal of new regulations to protect this source of fresh water, which provides drinking water to more than 40 million people in the US and Canada.
This summer, in an internship through 敁珗曄部, Thompson will work with the NAACP to identify Ohio legislators who may be receptive to sponsoring legislation that would regulate fracking. They will also consider when best to introduce it. Fracking is not the best topic to introduce just before an election because its so polarizing, Thompson says. We recognize that with the makeup of Ohios Legislature, were never going to be able to ban fracking. So thats not what were trying to do. Were trying to make it saferto protect the water, to protect the people.
Through his years of volunteering for environmental organizations, Thompson says hes realized that it is the larger state actors that effect real change. If you want to make a difference in the world on a large scale, its the policies that need to be changed, he says. You can incentivize people to do things individually, but the individual contribution in terms of pollution and climate change is fairly small in comparison to the systemic polluters. And once you do something on a large scale, it affects the individual as well.
So Thompsonwho also is on the executive committee of the Ashtabula County Democratic Partyencourages people who are concerned about climate change to vote for officials who prioritize the environment and to vote with their dollars when it comes to making consumer and investment decisions. For example, we should be looking at the supply chains to see if companies are following sustainable practices, he says. We could negotiate with our energy providers to purchase energy from renewable resources as opposed to coal and natural gas. And if were investing in the stock market, we should see if those companies get their energy from fossil fuels or through wind and solar.
Recently Gen Zs and millennials are calling for institutions to divest from companies that are invested in fossil fuels, he adds. Instead of just looking at the bottom line of profit, we want institutions to look at the triple bottom line: people, planet, profit. Thats something we could do at 敁珗曄部, too. Students can advocate for that change to happen. But its not going to happen if nobody calls for it.
No doubt, Captain Planet would agree.