Community celebration for environmental justice
The 11th Annual Rachel Carson Harvest Dinner was held on Saturday November 2nd. This year’s Rachel Carson dinner honored David Dow, an environmentalist and social justice advocate who works with the Sierra Club on Cape Cod.
Part of an article from Cheers & Jeers Editorial from the Cape Cod Times:
Congratulations to David Dow of Falmouth, who will be honored Saturday night at the 11th annual Rachel Carson Harvest Dinner at the Unitarian Universalist meetinghouse in East Falmouth.
In addition to raising money for community food pantries, the Carson Dinner recognizes community leaders who help protect the environment and food production on Cape Cod.
For many years, Dow, a retired Woods Hole scientist, has closely monitored several environmental issues on Cape Cod, including the Superfund site at the Upper Cape military base. In recent years, he has helped educate the public about “contaminants of emerging concern.” The EPA estimates that about 2,000 new chemicals are introduced into commerce each year and most are unregulated. Scientific research indicates that some of the new chemicals can cause adverse health effects.
“Dow has worked with the Sierra Club and with local environmental protection groups to raise awareness about toxins in the environment,” Robert Murphy of Unitarian Universalist wrote in an email to the Times. “Working with GreenCape and the Silent Spring Institute, Dow has prepared a consumer fact sheet that explains the problems caused by low levels of unregulated chemicals.”