Student Essays, Opinions & Other Insights on a Sustainable UMD 2013-2014 Academic Year | Page 14

Annie Rice
Major: Environmental Science and Policy
Class of 2017
I took the pledge for one simple reason: it is every single
person’s duty, not just policymakers’, to address
environmental issues. Human demand is what causes all
problems. No other organism on Earth knowingly causes
widespread deforestation, air and water pollution,
desertification, accumulation of waste, and climate change for
its own gain like our species does. All of these appalling
realities in our world today are a consequence of our
overcons [\[ۋ