For those of us whose primary political or public interest or passion is not the environment, I think it’s time we realize what is being done to the earth in our name, in the name of all of us.
Last Friday our State Department issued a sham report, which essentially said the Keystone XL Pipeline will not significantly exacerbate climate change. We all know that is absolutely untrue. In fact the State Department contracted out the study to a firm that has an obvious conflict of interest. Those of us who worked closely with John Kerry when he was in the Senate trying to pass climate change legislation should be disturbed and confused. The possibility of this project moving forward is one of the biggest current threats to our climate.
Organizers and average people in Pennsylvania and other states continue to fight to impose a moratorium on natural gas fracking. This practice of blowing up the interior of the earth has already poisoned underground water supplies. It is only a matter of time until it poisons a major aquifer that cannot be decontaminated.
Many of us for good reason have accepted the inevitability of such assaults on our only home. But the acceptance of inevitability requires a progressive misreading of American history. Any struggle for justice in America requires a long-term commitment and the constant refusal to accept inevitability.
The current environmental struggles are particularly difficult for us to sustain, because we cannot see the damage so very clearly today if we just turn our eyes away. Indeed, the destruction being done in our names will hurt our children and grandchildren much more than we feel right now.
That is why those of us who care about the world we live in must not leave these urgent struggles just to our sisters and brothers in the environmental movement. These struggles demand the best efforts of all of us.
Tonight, Monday, February 3rd, 2014, there are vigils across the country against the pipeline. CLICK HERE to find a vigil in your area!
Photo by Kayana Szymczak (CC BY 2.0)