Quick quiz. Who said the following?
"Here is your country--
Do not let anyone take it or its glory away from you
Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skim
Your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.
The world and the future and your very children shall
Judge you according as you deal with this sacred trust."
Was it: A) John Muir?
B) Rachel Carson
C) Teddy Roosevelt
D) Walt Whitman
If you guessed Teddy Roosevelt, go to the front of the class and answer the next question. How we doing Teddy? Teddy will likely respond, Not so good I'm afraid. By now you've likely heard of the latest in what is getting to be a long list of reports on how our planet has been damaged by us, the sea is rising, the clouds are almost raining mercury and it's not just future generations at risk but right here, right now. Even CNN has run a report that acknowledges climate change as a problem now and getting worse faster than expected. I'm not going to repeat the litany of eco problems because every time I read another book or article on what's going wrong, well, I get depressed.
So, what are we, the concerned people supposed to do? Is it enough to have our compost pile/vegetable garden, drive a car that gets at least 35mpg (or not drive at all?) recycle everything we can, buy less stuff, become in large part self sufficient? Become in fact, according to Gandhi, the change we want to see? Yes, in fact we do need, and I hope, want to do that. Making it happen begins with us but ask yourself how many people you know who are making real effort and how many feel whatever they do isn't much, have just given up or are gambling the future is not now. After all, how many times have environmentalists been labeled doomsayers and been proven wrong? Remember Paul Ehrlich's The Population Bomb in which he predicted widespread famine...in the 1970's??
So if it's a given that only a minority of people embrace the notion that humans are largely responsible for the ongoing and deepening crisis that is the environment, what are we to do? How do we foster change on a wide and large scale? What vehicle is there that can get the job done most efficiently in the least amount of time? For some time I've believed that, and don't all jump to send me an email at once, that the business community, out of mostly purely self interest and survival would take the lead in developing alternatives to extinction. In many cases they have. We are seeing the shifting of research and develop to a more sustainable path from the oncoming hydrogen vehicles to carpet recycled into more carpet, to lab technology that can take almost any petroleum based product and recycle it to diesel fuel. Green architecture is catching on, the word sustainable has become the buzzword of at least the year, if not the decade but the fact is, it's not enough. Now, I've also long felt that government was too little, too late, that politicians were among the last to get on a bandwagon and given most of them these days, it's hard to say that's where hope is but consider this. Our state has a plan to cut emissions by more than what the Kyoto treaty calls for. So does California, (the world's 7th largest economy) and so does Canada. When people get scared enough they turn to government to `fix things' by mandate and fiat. Sometimes we need a carrot and sometimes maybe something larger
So here's my proposal. It's past time to just sign petitions or occasionally mention to an office holder that the environment is an important issue. Given the alarming reports coming from staid, conservative scientists, given the fact that if we don't turn away from the mirror or the window we all know something is not right, it's time to act. Get to know your local officeholders, give your state representative and state senator a call. Same for the Governor, your Congressman, your Senator. Whatever political party you most identify with, run for office or encourage good, decent people you know to run. Bottom line, take action, at least pick up the phone and stand up for the environment and fight like the dickens. It's our future, it's now.
Teddy gets the last word: Here in the United States we turn our rivers and streams into sewers and dumping-grounds, we pollute the air, we destroy forests, and exterminate fishes, birds and mammals -- not to speak of vulgarizing charming landscapes with hideous advertisements. But at last it looks as if our people were awakening."
Still awake? What are your thoughts. What's the best way forward?