“This is our moment,” said Rachel hood, executive director of the West Michigan Environmental Action Council at a trivia night sponsored by the Union of Concerned Scientists on Oct. 25 to support Proposal Three, on the Nov. 6 election ballot.

Over 20 people gathered at J.D. Reardon’s on Monroe Ave., and filled the space while enjoying a free drink, snacks, and most importantly, to learn about the proposal and renewable energy from Hood and other WMEAC and UCS members.

Kevin Knobloch, President of UCS, introduced the evening with a brief speech about his reasons for supporting Proposal Three.

“(The proposal) is important for Michigan,” he said. “It is important for the rest of the country.”

“(This) really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a better economic future, a better environmental future…to define the future of our country’s energy portfolio,” Hood said, likening the proposal and its prospects for the economy to a ‘new Industrial Revolution’, and even touching on the subject of altering the constitution by accepting the proposal. “One hundred years ago, energy may not have been an issue that needed to be constitutionally protected. Today, it is.”

Following the opening comments by the members of UCS and WMEAC, Dave Anderson, Outreach Coordinator for UCS, led the gathering in a three-part trivia game, the questions for which all related to sustainable energy in America, and Michigan specifically. The winners of the trivia session were awarded copies of the book ‘Cooler Smarter, Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living’, which is a compilation of advice from the UCS.

Some of the facts that were presented int he game were that if all Americans reduced their emissions by 20%, over one billion tons of carbon dioxide would be prevented from entering the atmosphere, which is the equivalent of taking 200 of the nation’s 600 coal-burning power plants offline, and that a programmable thermostat can lower carbon dioxide emissions by more than half of a ton annually, saving consumers 15% or more on home heating and cooling costs.

The night was a success, Anderson, said, full of fun and an educational few hours of social engagement and community involvement.

Regardless of voter’s thoughts on Proposal Three, Hood’s closing comment applies to all Americans: “Don’t regret on Nov. 2 what you didn’t do in the next 10 days.”

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