| Chapter Interlude: | Speech By Mayor Bernero Of Lansing, Michigan |
And anyway, I'm very excited about it. I'm grateful for the leadership, the grassroots leadership, the depth that we have in this community. The experts, the folks [who] have been toiling in the fields. At Fenner Nature Center, at Michigan State University, at Lansing Community College, in different environmental groups, the Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council, and so many others, the Sierra Club, that really lead the way on this. And we're working with these groups now in our Go Green initiative. So, I just want to encourage you, talk to ten more people. You know, if you think sometimes you're talking to the wall when you tell people about this global warming and the things that are happening, and there are people in denial. And then there are people that are, again, that are distracted. And I thought I was doing economic development and that was it.
You don't have time not to do this. We don't have time not to consider it. In fact, the time that we're wasting is time we can't afford to waste for our future.
So, I'm just so excited and grateful to be a part of this. I'm excited about what we're going to be able to do together. Sam and I, just by coming together today, we work together on so many projects, too many to mention, for our community, because we recognize, we're not in competition, Lansing versus East Lansing, it's Lansing and East Lansing together in mid-Michigan and what we can accomplish. Now we're talking about doing some creative new things on the environment. Because if I, I just signed the Kyoto Protocol, and we're just ramping up, as I say, to make sure that we're making the right decisions. Sam's about to, which is very exciting. We're talking about working together and doing some regionally so that other regional government leaders will see that, “Well, if Lansing and East Lansing [are] doing it, gosh, I better jump up.”
So we can always, always look at what more we can do. If we're involved, that's terrific. We can do more, and spread the word and make a big impact. So, congratulations to all of you. Thank you.