Ramsey Nix recently started a position in the Athens-Clarke County Sustainability Department as an education consultant. She has previously advocated for the use of electric school buses and solar panels in the Clarke County School District.
Q: You’re relatively new to your job with Athens-Clarke County. What has been the most exciting thing about your new position?
A: Discovering that there’s nobody else in the Southeast doing this. My first reaction was to call all the other sustainability offices around and see what their education coordinators are up to and gather ideas. I very quickly realized that this doesn’t really exist here.
Q: For a lot of people, climate change can be an overwhelming problem, and they’re wondering where to start. How would you suggest that the everyday person become involved in projects that will ease the effects of climate change in Athens?
A: Margaret Mead (American anthropologist) has a wonderful quote. “Don’t ever underestimate the power of a few citizens who come together trying to do something good,” or something like that. This journey I’ve been on has proven that. It’s been unbelievable. Our Clean and Renewable Energy Plan — I was not involved in the original grassroots group that advocated for that, but that was a group of 12 citizens, and now we have a plan that our whole community is supposed to be clean and renewable. That was because 12 citizens came together and said, “We gotta do something.” I mean, with the Clarke County School District, everybody told me, “There’s nothing you can do over there. It’s a poor school district. They don’t have the resources to do any of this.” And now here we are at a point where renewable energy is actually cheaper than fossil fuels. It’s good for your wallet; it’s good for your health; it’s good for the planet. Never underestimate the power of advocacy. Use your voice. I’m tired of people being like, “Well what can I do?” Honey, baby, you can’t do anything. I don’t care how much you compost. It’s not gonna work unless our whole system changes. You know who invented the carbon footprint calculator? British Petroleum. And do you know how many fossil fuel companies are responsible for this? Ninety. There’s not that many who are even responsible for this. We way outnumber them. I firmly believe we can do this. That’s the only reason I continue to advocate.
Q: You mentioned that you have a background in journalism. What do you think is your strongest skill that you learned from your education in journalism that you can apply to public education and local government?
A: The ability to communicate facts and the ability to speak to people about it in a way that brings them into the conversation instead of alienating them. I try to always focus on commonalities. Whether or not you agree on climate change, we all want cleaner air, cleaner water, cleaner food sources. These are common. I think as a journalist you’re always looking for universal truths that speak to everyone. What’s more universal than clean air?
Comments trimmed for length and clarity.
Finn McClelion is a journalism major covering the climate beat in Reporting I in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
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