Welcome to the Best of the Left Podcast with Cliffs Today from PowerShift09, This American

Life, La Show, Counter-Spin, A Congressional Hearing, The Onion Radio News, All in the

Media, and NPR I want to share a little bit of Chicago.

It all starts with Tufts University.

We come from a place called Black Mesa.

And I'm from the great state of Louisiana.

I want to tell a story that begins in a place where all good stories begin in Wisconsin.

Each of us has our story, and this is mine.

It's just one of 10,000 in this room.

I grew up walking in the Petro Chemical Industry of Louisiana.

I am from La Vieta, the little village community in Chicago, with 95,000 residents.

And over half are under the age of 21.

My story is about not knowing what you have until you lose it.

And those single mothers throughout America who everyday must make a decision as to whether

they buy a gallon of gas or gallon of milk, 1.2 billion, do not have safe water to drink.

Throughout these years, I have been encouraged by so many amazing people, young and old,

black and white.

It is our generation that will ultimately inherit this planet.

For Indigenous peoples, our word for the environment is Mother Earth.

We're going to create an environment that is safe for our children and our children's children.

We are getting nowhere unless we bring all our peoples with us.

Energy policies such as cap and trade will not solve the greater environmental and health issues.

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