The following was announced March 1st in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Daily Digest Bulletin:
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is sponsoring an environmental justice video contest that challenges professional or aspiring filmmakers to create videos that capture the faces of the environmental justice movement. The Faces of the Grassroots contest is an opportunity to publicly exhibit creativity with environmental justice stories, and connect with others working to raise awareness of the movement.”
What does this mean? It means the EPA is giving monetary prizes to people for developing short informational videos or public service announcements focusing on any environmental justice activity, issue, or topic. Granted, the amounts are small and range from $500 to $2,500. In fact, this might be seen as a cost saving exercise since developing professional advertising is much more expensive. Looking at it from a different perspective, why is the EPA advertising at all? While the prize money amount is miniscule compared to the national debt, imagine all of the bureaucracy behind this effort and what it costs.
Read the full text of the announcement here. To see another example of what the EPA is spending money on, check out EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s Facebook page.