Ryan Sensenig, assistant professor of biology at Goshen College, is voluntarily taxing his gas consumption and wants you to do the same.

Sensenig is helping gather 350 people in his Indiana community to participate in the voluntary gas tax in order to recognize the social and environment costs of using gas. He calls it “the craziest tax you’ve never heard of.”

If one were to consider the true social and environmental cost of gas, he said, the price would be near $15 a gallon. With a price like that, he said, people would certainly drive less.

Sensenig elaborated on this campaign and provided numerous definitions of “environmental justice” on Friday in his youth seminar entitled, “Environmental Justice: A natural ‘fit’ for Mennonites?”

“Environmental justice starts to define the places we live as nature,” Sensenig said. He explained that there are four definitions of nature: species, habitat, view (aesthetics) and cycles. According to Sensenig, the last definition is the most important because the cycles of nature are our life support.

He used video clips in his presentation to help explain the different aspects of environmental justice. In one clip, the environmental activist Marjora Carter gave a voice to poor populations.

“We feel the (environmental) problems right now, and have for some time,” Carter said. According to Carter, environmental justice means that no communities should be burdened with more environmental problems or less environmental benefits than another community.

While the environmental movement has historically involved the affluent devoting their resources to issues like protecting polar bears or manatees, a new wave of environmentalists highlight the need to include communities of all socioeconomic levels.

“You can’t deal with ecological issues without dealing with poverty, and you can’t deal with poverty without dealing with ecological issues,” Sensenig said.

He also referred to Van Jones, who recently became special adviser for green jobs in the Obama administration. Jones founded Green For All, an organization devoted to sustainable jobs like insulation installation, which provides a salary and improves the environment.

Illustrating the important role of poor populations, Jones says a green economy doesn’t include throw-away resources or throw-away people.

Sensenig acknowledged that this is the first time in history we as society have questioned whether humans are a sustainable system.

“Over the past 100 years the temperature of the earth has increased over half a degree Celsius, which on a global span has catastrophic effects,” Sensenig said. He also noted that at 387 parts per million, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has reached the highest level it’s been in the last 600 years.

Sensenig said that although personal choices such as biking more and switching to a diesel-fueled cars are important, the most effective thing people can do is work for political change.

“The best solution right now is a policy solution,” he said. Sensenig explained that by the time the Kyoto Protocol, a multinational movement to reduce CO2 emissions, runs out in 2012, we should already have other measures in place.

Our chance comes in December, when world leaders meet in Copenhagen to discuss climate change policy.

Sensenig advocated the call from Bill McKibben, the author and environmentalist, to make a statement on Oct. 24, which has been designated as an international day of action.

Given the crisis, making a difference is a daunting task, but Sensenig highlighted the potential we have to create a healthier earth.

“What planet do you want your kids, or niece, or nephew to live on?” he said.

Sensenig will offer his seminar again on Saturday at 3 p.m. in D143.