Alarmist April

There is a need for the thoughtful people of Northeast Ohio to speak up loud and clear - sound an alarm - about environmental issues here, and our impact here on environmental issues worldwide.  We should do this in our everyday life, and we should participate in community efforts to speak in harmony about saving planet Earth. One way to shout-out that "This is a state of global emergency" is to become an "Alarmist [1]". As posted on REALNEO here [2], for this April 11, at 11 AM local time, for one minute, and each 11th of the month thereafter, at 11 AM,  Alarmists declare, "We need to set off the world's alarms. Join in. It could be the alarm on your phone, in your home, in your car. You could gather some friends to make some noise. Organise a flash mob. Schedule a company fire drill. Borrow a vintage air raid siren... Be creative. Raise the alarm." So, people of REALNEO, how should we sound the first Alarmism minute?

There is considerable conflict in this region over environmental issues, like sprawl, public transportation, global warming, coal, renewable energy, industrialization, natural resources and pollution. While all informed people here are certainly aware the world is facing innumerable ecological crises, and we see evidence of that often at home, people here are told that pollution and big industry equal jobs, and that is all that matters in our local economy. The "Greater Cleveland Partnership" and most business leaders, all branches of local, regional and state government, all forms of local mainstream print and broadcast media, and even most local "environmentalists" and academics that will go "on the record" support the freedom to pollute... aka being "sustainable"... because they all profit from pollution. Well orchestrated industrial economics plays well to poorly educated, polluted, desperate dirty-economy Northeast Ohio community leaders and citizens who associate soot with gold.

Against such powerful polluting interests, how do simple victims make a difference - in one minute this April and each month thenafter?

April 11th, 2008 is a Friday - weather should be nice - 11 AM is a great time to gather - we have nearly a month to plan - how about some alarm-ins around town?

Where would be good locations to organize and make one minute of noise and impact really count... Public Square... City Hall... Tremont... in front of The Cleveland Plain Dealer?? What other events are happening at that exact time, where an alarm for the environment could enhance proceedings?

Post your suggestions here and I'm sure some great plans will develop.

Location