Clean Air Rally

So I went to my first rally ever. It was regarding what can be done to promote clean air. We all made signs and held them up. Some phrases from the signs that I especially liked were "having a bad air day?" and "be part of the solution, not part of the pollution". We had masks that said "Got air? I don't." Some people wanted to take pictures of us. All around it was pretty fun. I liked hearing the speeches. Although I have no idea who was speaking, there was one man that was pretty funny and I liked what he said. One of the funniest things that he said was "I asked the legislature what we could do about the inversion, and one of them told me to pray for a storm. I did pray alright -- for a new legislature!" I thought that was really funny and clever.

I was impressed by how many people showed up. It was inspiring to see so many people who care about this issue. I also liked that people used this event to talk about other important issues. For example, I signed a petition that was about using more renewable energy resources.

At first, I was pretty confused about what we were trying to accomplish by rallying at the Capitol. I think it was so that our representatives can see how many people care about this issue. Breathing our air on a red air day is the equivalent to smoking a half a pack of cigarettes, and that's just not okay. I don't smoke because I don't want those negative side effects, and it's a shame that I'm getting them anyway just by breathing.

Anyway, I hope that changes can be made soon. I would love to see some better and more reliable public transportation options. I would love to see RioTinto pay retribution for breaking the laws regarding how much earth can be moved per day. I hope that we can make the necessary changes to respect our planet.