Stop Cop City

The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15), or Life on Land, works to protect terrestrial ecosystems and maintain biodiversity. In recent years, the global community has slowly started to realize the importance of maintaining eco-friendly lifestyles and preserving biodiversity, expressing their willingness to make a change through various movements. However, though the principles of SDG 15 may be advancing on the international stage, the same foundations of a beneficial and preserved environment must first be secured at a domestic level. The US has commendably been advancing in their efforts to spread these ideals, yet many residents from regions such as Atlanta, Georgia still struggle to battle the immorality and effects of harmful urban development projects such as Cop City.

Citizens from Atlanta, Georgia have been grappling with the issue of the building of Cop City for quite some time now, and numerous riots have risen due to the severe environmental destruction and financial impacts it would have. Cop City, an unfinished establishment, is meant to serve as a Public Safety Training Center that would allow and nurture specialized training within law enforcement and those working in fire-departments. The building of the establishment first started in the spring of 2023 on an 85-acre plot of land near the South-River Forest, and since then, people have been wrongfully shot, imprisoned, and even killed as a result of protests and efforts in trying to defend their homeland.

The 90 million dollars going into this project can rather be used to make a bigger difference within smaller communities in Atlanta. It is more than enough money to be able to provide poorer households with clean water and food, housing, better education, and so many other basic necessities.

Atlanta’s South-River or Weelaunee Forest harbors about 175 groups of wildlife, one of which being a federally endangered plant called the Michaux’s sumac, and another named the Altamaha shiner, a state threatened fish. Additionally, the Weelaunee Forest is also known as “one of Atlanta’s lungs” as it is a major producer of clean air and shade in such an urban environment. The eradication of this forest and its indigenous species would severely throw off the balance of the ecosystem, pollute the environment and thus take tolls on general human health, and erase the countless years of Native American history embedded in the woods. The establishment of Cop City without due consideration of the biodiversity that exists would defy a major tenet of SDG 15 and potentially put the legacy left for our future generations at risk.

I have a friend who lives in Atlanta, and she attended a public commentary forum/rally in early June to advocate against Cop City. She told me that the event lasted for about 15 hours in city hall, and what really was disheartening for the both of us was that the council members weren’t even listening to the citizens that were pouring their hearts out by telling extremely personal stories about how this project has affected them. My friend also claimed that most of the council members seemed to be on their phones the entire time, and didn’t even really look up at the citizens on stand.

I feel that a deal or a system can be approached between states regarding a shared training facility, or some other existing space within Atlanta can be utilized. The ensured safety of people is important, but it shouldn’t be at the cost of mass deforestation and death. As is popularly said, charity begins at home. Addressing these issues for Cop City could potentially serve as the role model and a guiding light to implement proactive policies to preserve biodiversity on a global scale and enable the ratification of the core principles of SDG 15.

If you know anyone who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, please say no to Cop City at https://www.copcityvote.com/.

Stay Sunny,

Asmi.